Editor In Leaf
Fansided

Toronto Maple Leafs 2021 Draft Review: One Year Later

By Gordon Munro

WORCESTER, MA - MARCH 25: Matthew Knies #89 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers skates against the Massachusetts Minutemen during the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Northeast Regional game at the DCU Center on March 25, 2022 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Golden Gophers won 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)
WORCESTER, MA - MARCH 25: Matthew Knies #89 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers skates against the Massachusetts Minutemen during the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Northeast Regional game at the DCU Center on March 25, 2022 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Golden Gophers won 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
Toronto Maple Leafs
Kyle Dubas, General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Vyacheslav Peksa

Pos: G

Team: Irbis Kazan (MHL)

Size: 6’2 163lbs

Drafted as an over-ager, at the time the Peksa pick was puzzling.

He played 17 games in the MHL (Russian Junior League) and had a .909% save percentage. This put him 27th in save percentage amongst U-19 goalies who played 10 or more games,.

In his time in the MHL, he also played a backup role to Leafs prospect, Artur Akhtyamov who was a year older and had significantly better numbers (.935% in 9 games).

However, this year he proved exactly why the Leafs took a flyer on him. Back again in the MHL, Peksa played in 56 games, the 3rd most in the league. Most impressively, it was by far the most on his team as no other goalie played more than 4. In those games, he held a .936% save percentage, good for 3rd in the league.

For context, the goalie in first place held a .939% but only played in 37 games and the goalie in second had a .938% but only played in 20. Overall, it was  a really impressive season for Peksa. He should be able to carve out a permanent role in the VHL (2nd-tier pro league in Russia) next year and maybe even feature in a few games in the KHL, similarly to Akhytamov this season.

No Bridge Deals!. dark. Next

So, one year out, the Leafs 2021 draft haul seems to have been an exercise in quality over quantity. After the 11 picks they made at the 2020 draft, Dubas and Co. could afford a smaller draft list. But, the Leafs will likely try to avoid only calling three names at the draft table going forward even if it seems to have worked out so far.

Home/Analysis