Last year, the Toronto Maple Leafs had six prospects earn the right to display their talents at the 2021 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer.
This year the tournament returns to Edmonton and Red Deer starting December 26th, 2021 with a new crop of fresh talent and a few returning stars.
Most of the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects from last year’s tournament have aged out for this year’s tournament including the Maple Leafs 2020 1st round pick, Rodion Amirov, who had 6 points in 7 games last year.
Amirov’s Russian teammates, Mikhail Abramov, who is a rookie on the Toronto Marlies this season, and Russia goaltender, Artur Akhtyamov, who won his only start in the tournament allowing one goal with a .944 save percentage, are also ineligible to return.
Defensemen, Mikko Kokkonen, has also aged out after his Finnish team took home the bronze medal last year.
Before we get into the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects who are shoe-ins for their World Junior teams, let’s take a look at a few wildcards hoping to represent their countries :