The Toronto Maple Leafs have been known to collect KHL talent, but in the last two weeks, Russia has brought over two former players from Toronto.
Now two former Toronto Maple Leafs hopefuls are headed to the Russian pro league.
A week ago, the Josh Ho-Sang experiment officially came to an end. Unable to crack Toronto’s NHL lineup, the former New York Islander played 47 games for the Leafs AHL farm club, the Toronto Marlies. He tallied 16 goals and 19 assists. Ho-Sang also played on Team Canada in the 2022 Olympics where he had three assists in his five tournament games.
Ho-Sang will continue his hockey career in Russia. He just signed with Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL. Helping him get acclimated will be another former NHL forward, his head coach, Viktor Kozlov.
This is a positive move for Ho-Sang now that it appears that his NHL days are through. He came to the Marlies hoping to rejuvenate his career in North America, but having fallen short of his goal, the KHL provides the Toronto native a chance to prove that he can play elite level hockey.
Another Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Goes East
Another player headed to Russia is someone who Toronto Maple Leafs fans had high hopes for. In fact, there was even once a conspiracy theory about him. Jeremy Bracco seemed to have all the tools to make waves in the NHL. Unfortunately, he never made it beyond the AHL.
Bracco played three seasons with the Marlies and was once considered to be a high end prospect. The former second-round pick of the Leafs (61st overall), didn’t seem to live up to any of Toronto’s expectations. His entire career could actually be summarized with the word “unexpected”.
Such was the case when he left Boston College in October of 2015 after playing just five games as a member of the BC Eagles and also missing the Toronto Maple Leafs and OHL camps that year. He gave up his NCAA scholarship to join the Kitchener Rangers.
Unable to make the Leafs or Carolina Hurricanes NHL squads, Bracco packed his gear for Europe. He played 24 contests in 2020-21 for KalPa in Finnish Liiga where he recorded 17 regular season points and two playoffs assists in four postseason games. The following season, the Freeport, NY native went to Germany to play for the Krefeld Pinguine in the DEL2. He registered 14 goals and 40 assists in 54 contests there, making him an attractive player for his new team, Barys Nur-Sultan in the KHL.
It’s good to see Bracco having success in Europe. Hopefully, he continues to have a hot stick and make a name for himself in Russia.