Is this Ilya Mikheyevs Last Year With the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Ilya Mikheyev is entering the final year of a two-year deal signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. As much as we love soup, does he have a place on the roster beyond this year?

You probably know of Toronto Maple Leafs winger Ilya Mikheyev as the souperman (@Souperman65 on twitter) or the Russian guy in the Campbell soup commercial. Well to me, Ilya Mikheyev is the European guy who kills penalties really well, skates nearly as fast as Connor Mcdavid, and gets lots of breakaways but can never really finish on them … or in other words, Kasperi Kapanen 2.0.

Regardless of who he is to you, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ilya Mikheyev’s camp are going to have to make a decision following this season regarding the winger’s future with the Leafs.

Mikheyev is entering the second year of a two-year $3.290 million contract (courtesy capfriendly.com) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and with a ton of depth on wings and for the bottom-6 where does Mikheyev really fit in?

Toronto Maple Leafs and Ilya Mikheyev

Well, let’s take a second to take a look at things: Extremely fast. Excellent penalty Killer. Great versatility in the crunch when you need someone who can slot in up and down the lineup. Yes, we love all those things. But really besides the speed, you can find that in a lot of guys around the league.

Since the injury to Mikheyev’s wrist during the 2019-20 season, there has been something off about his game. He obviously cannot shoot like he used to, hence the missed breakaways. He only had 17 points in 54 games last season which would only have put him on pace for about 26 points in a full 82 game season.. Not really what you’re looking for from someone who played third-line minutes for the majority of the year.

Keep in mind this is without the fact that also through the last two postseasons, in 12 games he has remained pointless. Not even to mention the lack of playoff tenacity we fans are coming to expect from someone in those third/fourth line rolls.

We just want to see more out of someone who is going to play that role. Mikheyev doesn’t play center. He is costing you nearly $2 million on a roster that already has tough cap implications without a dollar to waste.

We also cannot forget that there are lots of other options for the bottom-six wingers just chomping at the bit to get on the NHL roster. Just look at the names like Josh Ho-Sang, Ondrej Kase, Kurtis Gabriel, Michael Amadio, Joey Anderson, Wayne Simmonds, and Adam Brooks. This just adds to the number of reasons that would make Mikheyev expendable to the Leafs.

While I’m not too confident that Mikheyev deserves to be here after this season, I’m very much open to my mind being changed.

The Toronto Maple Leafs brought in Mr. Souperman from Russia for a reason. In his final season in the KHL, Mikheyev had a total of 45 points in 62 games. And I cannot forget to mention that in his first year with the Leafs prior to his injury, Mikheyev was on pace for a near 50-point season (stats: eliteprospects.com).

Hell, I was even impressed by the little he played in the preseason game on Saturday night. He was showing he wasn’t afraid to throw his body around. He used his speed to his advantage. And to cap it all off he even scored the shootout winner!

He can turn the tables this year a

nd I’m more than open to see what Mikheyev’s got in store for us. Mikheyev just got married this summer and despite rumours this offseason regarding a trade, he seems happy in Toronto so perhaps something closer to a regular NHL year will boost his morale and it will trickle down into his game on the ice (at least let’s hope).