*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.
*******
CHECK OUT RUSS COHEN’S NHLDRAFTBUZZ.COM FOR INFO ON PROSPECTS AND NEWS IN THE HOCKEY WORLD
The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander), but the focus of prospect development under former GM Kyle Dubas and the last few seasons under Director of Amateur Scouting Wes Clark seemed to be on skill players, while GM Brad Treliving has begun to transition with a focus on young players with size.
As we did last year, we will rank the club’s top prospects over the upcoming weeks based on their progress in either the NCAA, CHL, Europe, ECHL or AHL and their potential to make the Leafs roster and contribute in the future.
Youngsters like Bobby McMann, Joseph Woll, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and top-rated Matthew Knies have graduated, but here is a list of players eligible for the list who have not played more than 40 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:
#40 - Wyatt Schingoethe – C (Western Michigan – NCAA)
#39 - Zach Solow - RW (Toronto - AHL)
#38 - Semyon Kizimov - RW -(Yekaterinberg - KHL)
#37 - Robert Mastrosimone – LW. (Toronto – AHL)
#36 - Marko Sikic – RW (Sarnia – OHL, Newfoundland/Norfolk – ECHL)
#35 – Jacob Bengtsson – D (Boston College – NCAA)
#34 – Nicolas Mattinen – D (Straubling – Germany-DEL)
#33 – Matthew Barbolini – F (Miami(OH) – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#32 – Nathan Mayes – D (Spokane – WHL)
#31 – Braeden Kressler – C (Flint/Ottawa – OHL
#30 – Jacob Frasca – C (Barrie/ Sault Ste. Marie.- OHL)
#29 – Chas Sharpe – D (Mississauga – OHL, Toronto – AHL)
#28 – Hudson Malinoski – C (Providence – NCAA)
#27 – John Fusco – D (Dartmouth – NCAA
#26 – Semyon Der-Argushintsev (Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)
#25 – Ty Voit – RW – (Newfoundland, ECHL, Toronto – AHL
#24 – Mikko Kokkonen – D – (Toronto – AHL)
#23 – Matt Lahey – D – (Nanaimo – BCHL)
#22 – Sam McCue – LW (Peterborough/Owen Sound – OHL)
#21 – Victor Johansson – D (Leksands Jr. – Sweden)
#20 - Alexander Plesovskikh - LW (Yugra - VHL)
#19 - Miroslav Holinka – C (Trinec Ocelari HC U20 – Czechia)
#18 – Roni Hirvonen – C (Toronto – AHL)
#17 – Timofei Obvintsev – G (CSKA Red Army Jr. – MHL)
#16 – Vyacheslav Peksa – G (Newfoundland – ECHL)
#15 – Cade Webber – D (Boston University – NCAA)
#14 – Ryan Tverberg – C (Toronto – AHL)
#13 – William Villeneuve – D (Toronto – AHL)
#12 – Alex Steeves – C(Toronto – AHL / Toronto – NHL)
#11 – Joe Miller – C (Harvard – NCAA)
#10 – Nick Moldenhauer – C (Michigan – NCAA)
#9 – Nick Abruzzese – C (Toronto – AHL)
#8 – Ben Danford – D (Oshawa – OHL)
#7 – Artur Akhtyamov – G (Neftyanik Almetievsk – VHL / Ak Bars Kazan – KHL)
The Maple Leafs have shifted to a shotgun approach for their goaltending organizational depth, with four netminders either in Europe or in the lower professional levels in North America. Joseph Woll represents the first internally developed starting goalie the Leafs have had in over a decade. Another one that Toronto hopes will turn out is Russian goalie Artur Ahktyamov.
Akhtyamov was selected in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft after posting a 1.80 GAA in 46 games for Ak-Bars Kazan’s MHL junior squad. The 6’1” 168 lb. netminder split time between the MHL, the second pro-level VHL (with a 1.90 GAA in 14 games) and starting three KHL games in 2020-21.
Ahktyamov’s performance earned him notice and a selection to Team Russia for the Karjala Cup and to their squad for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships, backing up San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov.
“(Akhtyamov) is a guy that we did a lot of work on with all our goalie guys. He's a little bit older, but we felt he's got potential.” Former Leafs Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley said. “He's a goalie, so it's gonna take time, but we thought he was worthy of the pick where we selected him.”
The youngster’s path to more playing time in Russia has been blocked by Ak Bars being a contender and the presence of veteran starter Timur Bilyalov. In 2022, Akhtyamov played 38 games, with a 9-17-9 record, 2.69 GAA, and .912 save percentage in the second-level VHL. He was then loaned out to Neftyanik Almetievsk and posted a much better 20-12-6 record, 1.74 GAA, and a sparkling .943 save percentage.
Last season, Akhtyamov finally got a KHL opportunity and posted excellent numbers (6-7-0, 2.51 GAA, .921 save %) in the first half, but Ak Bars chose to lean heavily on Bilyalov in the second half and decded to demote him once again to the minors.
As with fellow Russian and Kazan product Vyacheslav Peksa, the 22-year-old chose to come to North America. The developmental goaltending pipeline with the Leafs is now full with Dennis Hildeby coming off an excellent AHL campaign, and Peksa playing full time in the ECHL. Depending on whether the Leafs carry two or three goalies, Akhtyamov could be splitting time with Peksa in Cincinnati or with Hildeby in Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»