Toronto Maple Leafs Prospects Could Dominate At World Juniors

Last year the Toronto Maple Leafs had a great World Junior Hockey Championship. They had six players there, three of which captured the Bronze medal.

The big highlights being now-possible Toronto Maple Leafs Top Prospect Topi Niemela leading the tournament in scoring at his position with eight points in seven games. He was also named Defenseman of the tournament all while capturing Bronze. Teammate Roni Hirvonen also impressing, scoring six points in seven games, good for fourth on Finland in points.

You can’t forget 2020 first round pick, Rodion Amirov who was impressive. He played on the top line for Russia at even strength and even played all special teams. He was also the Russian leading scorer with six points in seven games.

Although there are only three Leafs prospects attending this year’s World Junior Hockey Championship, they could still come away with a very impressive showing.

Who are they sending this year?

Toronto Maple Leafs WJHC in 2021

Returnees Topi Niemela and Roni Hirvonen are all but guaranteed to play crucial roles for the Finnish squad. Hirvonen was named team captain and Niemela named an alternate, meaning they’ll both get prime ice time and prime opportunities to succeed. Especially with Niemela’s breakout year this year in Liiga, you can expect him to play a prominent role for Finland and likely be their main power play quarterback.

Hirvonen, as the captain will likely get all situations type of usage. Look for him to possibly lead the Fins in scoring this year, at least for forwards. If their pre-tournament game is any indication, it should be easy for Hirvonen to rack up a bunch of points as he got a helper on the opening goal and potted the game winning goal in OT.

Matthew Knies could be a different story. Unlike Hirvonen, Knies won’t get top line minutes and likely won’t get to top usage on special teams as well. However, he had multiple opportunities to score in his pre-tournament game and overall looked lethal nearly every time he was on the ice. Also, in league action, he has 16 points in 18 games for the University of Minnesota. This puts him seventh in scoring for 2021 draftees and fourth in freshman scoring.

So, although the Toronto Maple Leafs won’t make an impact like the Carolina Hurricanes who currently have 10 prospects at the tournament, they should do alright with the players they do have. This year is definitely more about quality, instead of quantity and for a team that’s almost a shoe-in for a playoff berth every year, the fact they’re able to send multiple high impact players to the best prospect tournament is a testament to their drafting chops.

Predictions

Now, with all of this being said, I figured I would throw some predictions to back up what I say in this article. Onto the fun part!

Topi Niemela: I predict he will score nine points this year and Finland will win Bronze once again, but that he won’t win defensemen of the tournament.

Roni Hirvonen: I predict Hirvonen will score 10 points and will lead the Finns in scoring. Also, he too will win Bronze of course.

Matthew Knies: I predict Knies will place amongst the top five in USA scoring, around six points and will capture Silver along with the USA squad.