Looking Back at the Toronto Maple Leafs 2018 NHL Entry Draft

3rd Round, 76th Overall – Semyon Der-Arguchintsev

With the second pick that was obtained when Kyle Dubas traded away the 25th overall pick, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Semyon Der-Arguchintsev who was quickly nicknamed SDA by fans.

SDA was a very small, but skilled player that had he been one day younger would have been eligible for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and likely gone much higher.

Sticking with the first two picks, Dubas selected SDA out of the Ontario Hockey League, this time from the Peterborough Petes.  In his draft year, SDA recorded 51 points in 69 games and then received an invite to training camp that upcoming September before returning to Peterborough.

SDA would spend the next two seasons with the Petes where in his final year he would be paired up on a line with another Maple Leafs top prospect (Nick Robertson) where the duo would terrorize OHL goaltenders.

SDA would finish with not just averaging a point per game, but also finished with more than an assist per game as he recorded 63 assists and 75 points in 55 games, while Robertson would score 55-goals and 86-points in 46 games.

The Toronto Maple Leafs would assign SDA to the Toronto Marlies over the next couple of seasons which saw the Russian winger collect 40-points in 50-games this past year that earned him a call-up to the big club.

On December 6, SDA would make his NHL debut and play 7:06 against the Dallas Stars, receiving ten shifts and finish plus-1 on the night.

This past off-season, SDA’s contract expired with the Toronto Maple Leafs and they qualified him as to retain his rights, but no deal was completed.  He decided to return to Russia and sign a two-year deal with the Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL.

His season has already started in Russia, where he has collected an assist in his team’s only game so far which resulted in a 2-1 victory.

SDA will play alongside former Maple Leaf Nikita Soshnikov.