Leafs Top Prospects – #18 Roni Hirvonen

The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Matthew Knies), but the club under former GM Kyle Dubas and current GM Brad Treliving had different ideas of what kind of prospects they wanted to populate the organization with. There has been a slow weeding out process of the smaller Dubas prospects in favor of predominantly larger forwards and defenseman that fit the traits that Treliving is looking for

As we’ve done on a yearly basis, we are ranking 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 make a contribution in the future.

Players are eligible for the list if they have not played more than 40 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:

Prospect List

#40 – Matthew Hlacar – F (Kitchener – OHL)

#39 – Rylan Fellinger – D (Flint – OHL)

#38 – Blake Smith – D (Flint – OHL, Toronto – AHL)

#37 – Braeden Kressler – C (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)

#36 – Harry Nansi – C (Owen Sound – OHL)

#35 – Landon Sim – RW (London – OHL)

#34 – John Prokop – D (Union College – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)

#33 – Seymon Kizimov – RW (Yekaterinburg Automobilist – KHL, Uchaly Gornyak – VHL)

#32 – Matthew Barbolini – F (Toronto – AHL)

#31 – John Fusco – D (Dartmouth – NCAA)

#30 – Semyon Der-Argushintsev  – C (Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)

#29 – Will Belle – RW (US Nat’l Development Program)

#28 – Nathan Mayes – D (Spokane – WHL)

#27 –  Borya Valis – RW (Prince George – WHL, Toronto – AHL)

#26 – Hudson Malinoski – C (Providence – NCAA)

#25 – Ryan Kirwan – F (Arizona State – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)

#24 – Joe Miller – C (Harvard – NCAA)

#23 – Matt Lahey – D (Fargo – USHL)  

#22 – Chas Sharpe – D (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)

#21 – Sam McCue – LW (Owen Sound / Flint – OHL)

#20 – Alexander Plesovskikh – LW (Voskresensk – VHL / Kryiya Sovetov & Moscow Spartak – MHL)

#19 – Ryan Tverberg – C (Toronto – AHL)

#18 Roni Hirvonen – C (Toronto – AHL)

In 2020, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas traded down, moving his second-round pick (44th overall) to Ottawa for a late second and to recoup a third-round pick (Topi Niemela) that he traded in the Nazem Kadri deal. That second-round pick turned out to be Sens blueliner Tyler Kleven, who has developed into a good shutdown defenseman. 

At #59, Toronto selected Finnish center Roni Hirvonen. Hirvonen played 52 games in the SM-Liiga for Assat Pori prior to the draft and is known for possessing skill and hockey IQ, but the question is whether he will be able to overcome his small stature (5’9”, 164 lbs) and round out the other aspects of his game to be a successful pro player eventually.

“(Hirvonen is) a really smart cerebral player, who can improve his outright speed, but he has good edges. Has good offensive instincts and a player who plays on the Finnish national team. We’ve seen a lot with them.… Former Leafs Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley said. “He’s got good offensive upside and he’s a competitive kid. I know he’s not a bigger kid, but he’s certainly competitive and hard on pucks.”

The center was selected for Team Finland’s squad for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships in Edmonton and scored six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in seven games, as well as setting a career-high of 21 points with Assat in the SM-Liiga. After switching to HIFK Helsinki in the Finnish league in 2021-22, he increased his point total to 26 (9 goals, 17 assists) in 46 games and averaged over a point per game in the Liiga playoffs. In his second WJC, he was named Finland’s team captain and had seven points in seven games, leading his country to the Gold Medal game vs. Canada. Following the season, Hirvonen signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Leafs, with the understanding that he would play another season for HIFK Helsinki before heading to North America and he scored 15 goals in 57 games for HIFK.

The young Finn was expected to slot in with the AHL Marlies last season, but he suffered the loss of his father, a concussion during the Leafs Development Camp last July, and a serious eye injury in October that kept him out three months. After returning, Hirvonen struggled to get on track and finished the season with 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) in 37 games, but began to show some improvement late in the season, with five points in the last eight games.

Last season, the 23-year-old showed some improvement, increasing his point total to 21 (10 goals, 11 assists) in 59 games, but with the completion of his ELC and the organization shifting to bigger players, Hirvonen is returning home to play this season with Karpat. The Leafs retained his rights by extending a qualifying offer, but it is beginning to look as if Hirvonen will never play in the NHL for Toronto.