Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Named Top Defenseman at WJHC

Toronto Maple Leafs defensive prospect Topi Niemela was named top defenseman at the World Junior Hockey Championships (WJHC) last night.

If they didn’t know the name already, Toronto Maple Leafs fans are fully aware of who Topi Niemela is now. Niemela wasn’t even on our top ten prospect list this year, but his performance is sure to earn him consideration on our next update.

Drafted 64th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by the Leafs, Niemela had an exceptional tournament registering eight points in seven games for Team Finland. Niemela joins Rasmus Sandin as the second consecutive Leafs prospect to be named top defenseman in this tournament.

This is absolutely fantastic news for the Leafs, and yet another feather in the cap of GM Kyle Dubas who is starting to earn a reputation as an excellent evaluator of young talent.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Topi Niemela

If you’re curious what winning this award means, here’s a look at the last 15 prospects to be named top defenseman in the tournament, courtesy of Carlo Colaiacovo on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/CarloColaiacovo/status/1346809651917156357?s=20

As you can see, typically those who excel at this tournament go on to an incredibly successful NHL career. It’s way too early to say that Niemela (and Rasmus Sandin for that matter) will transition into someone like Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Alex Pietrangelo or Thomas Chabot, but those are the type of players they’ll now be getting to compared to for the rest of their careers.

Not only was Niemela a point per-game player at the tournament but his defensive game was strong. It’s nice to see a defenseman contribute offensively in this tournament but shutting down the best young players in the world is more impressive.

https://twitter.com/IIHFHockey/status/1346728258965020673?s=20

Here’s how DobberProspects described his game, ahead of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

"“Niemela’s biggest strength is his hockey smarts. He always knows where he should be and where his teammates are. He understands when he should join the rush and support an attack but he also knows when to hold back to make sure the opposing team doesn’t get a dangerous scoring chance.Niemela is also a great skater which allows him to play that type of role. He can make above-average plays but isn’t the type of player who will make flashy high-end plays constantly. His hands and shot are good but not elite. His tools are good enough to get involved offensively but he won’t be a huge point-producer.”"

Winning this award is impressive in it’s own right, but the fact that Niemela did it as an 18-year-old is even crazier. Based on his age, he’s still eligible to return and play for Team Finland next year, so I’d expect him to be even more impressive then.

Defense has always been an issue for the Leafs, but the future seems promising. Besides Niemela, there are at least seven other defenseman that have a legitimate shot at making the NHL roster in the next 1-3 years.

• Rasmus Sandin
• Timothy Liljegren
• Filip Kral
• Mac Hollowell
• Kalle Loponen
• Mikko Kokkonen
• Joseph Duszak

Based on the development of the other prospects who were named top defenseman of the WJHC, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Niemela in a Leafs jersey within 18 months.