Toronto Maple Leafs: European Prospects Off to a Good Start
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a several really good European prospects. Some of them will be challenging for NHL roster spots as early as next season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs may not have any blue-chip, top-of-the-draft prospects, but considering that they haven’t picked high for several years now, their prospect group is pretty solid, and is well regarded.
Kyle Dubas has faced numerous criticisms for his contract negotiations, salary cap and roster management, but almost everyone seems to agree he has made the most of his drafts as the Leafs GM, despite picking low and trading several picks.
Much of the reason that the Leafs have as good of a system as they do, is because of their European prospects.
It is much easier for fans in North America to keep an eye on prospects playing here in the CHL or in the NCAA. Sometimes prospects playing in Europe get forgotten about due to our lack of viewing.
Most of Toronto’s European prospects are still playing in Europe, so most of them have already started their regular season play. The majority of the team’s European prospects play in either the KHL or Liiga (Finnish Elite League).
Some of these prospects you may be familiar with while others not so much. I will be taking a look at six prospects in this article.
Toronto Maple Leafs European Prospects
Topi Niemela
Topi Niemela is a 19 year-old right shooting defenseman from Finland. He was drafted in the third round of the 2020 NHL draft with the 64th overall pick.
This season is his third season with Karpat in Liiga. Last season he registered four assists in 15 games. Niemela performed really well at the IIHF world junior championship last season. He was the second highest scoring Finnish player with two goals and six assists for eight points in seven games.
(Stats from Eliteprospects.com)
So far this season, Niemela already has six points in five games for Karpat. Toronto will be hoping he has a breakout year.
Nikolai Chebykin
Nikolai Chebykin is a big (6’4″ 223 Lbs.) 24 year-old winger playing for Dynamo Moskva in the KHL. Chebykin was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 7th round of the 2016 NHL draft.
This season he has six goals in six games for Dynamo which is already a career best for him at the KHL level. Hopefully he will be able to bring his big frame over to the Maple Leafs in a season or two.
Mikko Kokkonen
Mikko Kokkonen is a 20 year-old left shooting defenseman playing for the Pelicans in Liiga this season. Kokkonen was drafted in the third round of the 2019 NHL draft with the 84th overall pick.
He split his time between Liiga and the AHL last season. He had a decent showing at the AHL level by registering 7 points in 11 games. This season he has recorded four points in five games for the Pelicans.
Hopefully he will make the jump back to the AHL at some point this season and become a regular here in North America.
Semyon Kizimov
Semyon Kizimov is a 21 year-old winger from Russia. He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the seventh round of the 2018 NHL draft with the 211th overall pick.
So far this season, Kizimov has four points in five games for Gornyak-UGMK in the VHL which is a minor hockey league used by the KHL. He had 14 points in 35 games last season for Lada Togliatti in the VHL. He looks to be on his way to passing those totals.
Eemeli Rasanen
Eemeli Rasanen is a very large (6’7″ 209 Lbs.) 22 year-old right shooting defenseman. He was drafted by Toronto in the second round of the 2017 NHL draft.
The big Finnish born defenseman is playing with the Frederikshavn White Hawks in Denmark. He currently has four points in six games for the White Hawks this season.
It would be really nice to see Rasanen have a great season in Denmark and then come to AHL next season. A full season in the AHL would give the Toronto Maple Leafs a better understanding of whether or not he can play at the NHL level. He has the size, but can he be effective?
Rodion Amirov
Rodion Amirov was selected 15th overall in the first round of the 2020 NHL draft by Toronto. The 19 year-old forward is looking to have a great season for Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL this season.
His season got off to a bad start as he suffered a broken collar bone during pre-season action. The good news is he is now fully healed and just recently played in his first game of the season. During his first game of the season, he recorded an assist.
Next. Leafs Top 10 Prospects. dark
Amirov will be looking to try and make the Toronto Maple Leafs main roster next season, so hopefully he has a great 2021-22 season and can build off of that.