Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Update
Vyacheslav Peksa, G
After looking like he could be the Leafs top goaltending prospect heading into last year, Peksa had a rough start to his North American pro career. In 19 games with the Newfoundland Growlers, he had a 5-11-1 record and .890 SV%. Now, in 11 games with the Cyclones he has an even worse 1-7-1 record and .861 SV%. If he is to pull himself out of the ECHL, he will have to improve his numbers drastically. Luckily for him, he is under contract for another year (puckpedia.com) and barring any major changes still has runway left to turn things around.
Artur Akhtyamov. G
Akhtyamov has been nothing short of superb to start his North American career with the Toronto Marlies. In 11 starts, he has an 8-1-1 record with a .911 SV% and two shutouts and although sharing the crease with two other netminders, he seems to be the starter at this point.
Although he has seen a slight regression from his totals earlier in the year, his play has been well above expectations. 'Artie' has shown himself to be a capable goaltender, consistently posting above .900 SV% at almost every level he has played at be it the MHL, VHL, KHL, or now AHL. He should look to continue his performance and attempt to break through what has turned into a cramped pipeline in Toronto over the coming seasons.
Dennis Hildeby, G
The spotlight is definitely shining bright on his Russian teammate but Hildeby is no slouch himself and we cannot forget that he won the starting net last season in his rookie season with the Marlies. Hildeby is still arguably the clubs top prospect between the pipes and has shown no signs of giving it up easy.
So far this year in six games with the Marlies he has a .897 SV% which is a definite step back but still respectable given his circumstances. Part of why he has not played as much to start the year is because he spent a month as the Maple Leafs backup netminder.
In the show, he played three games and although only came away with a .875 SV%, he showed relatively well in his debut, recording his first career win and sporting a .913 SV% against the New Jersey Devils. He currently sits at a 2-1-0 record in the NHL and with goalie Anthony Stolarz out for the next month or so, he should get ample opportunity to get his feet wet.
Topi Niemela, RHD
After a very successful North American debut season for the Finnish blueliner, his start to this season has been slightly underwhelming. He has yet to score a goal and his scoring rate has stayed level with last season, registering 10 points in 19 games.
This comes even with his third pairing minutes at 5v5. He has also recently been made a healthy scratch in favor of veterans like Matt Benning on multiple occasions, a player the organization is reportedly shopping. Despite this, he leads the club in points amongst defensemen but appears to have a hill to climb if he is to make the NHL. There have already been multiple players called up ahead of him, even with a depleted blueline and it appears that he is stuck down the depth chart.
Cade Webber, LHD
The 6-7 blueliner, Cade Webber has been dealing with a lower body injury the past couple weeks and has been kept out of the lineup. Before this, he was starting to heat up with three assists in his previous five outings.
This is Webber's rookie year after spending the past four seasons at Boston University and although he only has four assists in 17 games so far, he has played mostly well. His stay-at-home shut down style makes his lack of production less of a concern and mixed with him being trusted to play consistent top-four minutes, all indications appear to be positive. Given the large amount of depth defenders in the organization, he likely does not see action this year but it would not be shocking to see Webber carve out a role next year for the Maple Leafs, even as an occasional call-up. The team seems to have a lot of faith in him having already locked him up to a two-year extension that kicks in next year.