3 Players The Toronto Maple Leafs Must Sign This Summer
Veeti Miettinen
Miettinen announced in an instagram post that he would be turning pro following a four-year career at the NCAA’s St. Cloud State University. KalPa of the Finnish Liiga announced that Miettinen signed a two-year contract and it appears that he will not be signing an entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs.
However, they do still hold his NHL rights until August 15th and stranger things have happened.
When the Leafs drafted Miettinen (sixth round, 168th overall) in 2020, he was a prolific scorer in the Finnish junior ranks.
In the two seasons leading up to his draft, he scored 69 goals and 65 assists for 134 points in just 100 games at the U-20 level. He had also performed well on various international stages from the five-nations tournament to the Hlinka-Gretzky and U-18 worlds.
This along with multiple respected draft publications ranking him within the top-100 for the 2020 draft, made him look like a potential steal.
He has performed well in the past four seasons that followed with St. Cloud State of the NCAA. He lead the team in scoring in both his freshman and senior years with the program, being named to the NCAA’s NCHC all-rookie team and winning the NCHC rookie of the year honours.
St. Cloud also won the 2023 NCHC frozen faceoff championship with Miettinen scoring one goal and three assists through five games in the tournament, including a three-point game in the semi-final match. All-in-all he scored 118 points through 146 games throughout his NCAA career.
It has been speculated that Miettinen may not sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s unclear whether he is refusing to sign or the team has shown a lack of interest but we will likely get a clearer picture by August 15th, when his rights expire and he is set to become an unrestricted free agent.