The Toronto Maple Leafs have plucked forward Kirill Semyonov straight from Russia to help them in their 2021-22 campaign. Here’s what you need to know.
Kirill Semyonov isn’t a household name in North America, not yet at least. On Wednesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they have signed the Russian forward to a one-year entry-level contract for the 2021-22 season.
This is an exciting announcement for fans of Omsk Avangard, a club Semyonov has played with for seven seasons dating back as far as 2013-14. Now, at age 26, the left shooting forward will get his chance to play in the NHL. (stats hockeydb.com).
Semyonov is the fourth player the Leafs have signed from the KHL in recent years.
Toronto Maple Leafs and the KHL
Semyonov choosing Toronto as a preferred destination shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s recently become a choice landing spot for those migrating from the KHL due to the opportunity the club is providing the Russian players it recruits.
Look no further than Ilya Mikheyev who, when healthy, is an important part of the team’s offense. Alexander Barabanov was given an opportunity this year and though he didn’t perform the way he or the club would have liked, the Leafs did him a favor and traded him to the San Jose Sharks to give him the chance to continue chasing his dream to be an NHL regular. They even did the same for Mikko Lehtonen who they sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
In Semyonov, the Leafs will have a player who can both set plays up and finish them. He has proven himself to be an important part of the team that just captured the KHL’s top prize, the Gagarin Cup.
In that playoff run, Semyonov played 23 games and scored four goals and five assists. In the regular season, he played more games for Omsk than any other player. In those 60 games, he recorded 10 goals and 16 assists, for a total of 26 points. While that isn’t overly impressive, it’s important to note that his ice time was reduced this season than where it was just one year prior.
In 2019-20 Semyonov had his best season. He played 62 games for Omsk where he put up 46 points on 16 goals and 30 assists. He also sat for 38 penalty minutes and was a plus 22 on the season. In the postseason that year, Semyonov played in six games where he scored four goals and two assists. His play was good enough that year to allow him the honor of being named to the KHL’s 2020 All-Star Game.
Noticed Semyonov's career p/g is similar to Barabanov's KHL arc, so here's the two of them compared to the average p/g of KHL signee Fs pic.twitter.com/0cDTbK1uf5
— Earl Schwartz (@EarlSchwartz27) May 5, 2021
With Avangard, Semyonov had the opportunity to learn from NHL veterans. He was coached by Bob Hartley whose resume now lists four championships in four different leagues. Hartley won the Gagarin Cup this season, the Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalance, the Calder Cup in 1997 with the Hershey Bears, and the NLA championship in 2012 with Ev Zug.
Semyonov also had the chance to play with two first-overall NHL draft picks, Ilya Kovalchuk and Nail Yakupov. He’s also previously played with his future teammate, Mikheyev, back in 2018-19. This could be very helpful to Semyonov once get joins the team to help acclimate to the league both on and off the ice.
One should expect that Semyonov will get a chance to prove himself next year with the Leafs. Hopefully, he will be able to adapt to the game in as dynamic a manner as Mikheyev has, adding to the depth of talent Kyle Dubas stocks in Toronto.