Leafs Sign Goalie Prospect Obvintsev

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With the Toronto Maple Leafs trading or not re-signing goalies Joseph Woll, Dennis Hildeby, and Slava Peksa, the club needed to replenish their netminding pipeline. On Friday, the club announced the signing of Russian goalie Timofei Obvintsev to a one-year AHL contract.

Congratulations to Timofei Obvintsev (2024 NHL Draft – Rd. 5, #157) on signing a 1-year contract with the Toronto #LeafsForever organization! #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/LvGdXE8tPv
— Dan Milstein (@HockeyAgent1) July 10, 2026

Obvintsev was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas. The 21-year-old has been in the CSKA Moscow junior system since 2020 and had a 2.96 GAA in 16 starts in his draft year. In 2025, he played only 11 games in the junior-level MHL, posting a 2.78 GAA and .908 save percentage. Last season, in the second-level VHL, he played just six games for Gornyak UGMK.

The Ekaterinburg native is the prototypical physical frame (6’3”, 179 lb.) that NHL clubs are looking for, but his style is more of a hybrid approach, playing in the butterfly when it is called for, but also mixing it up and not dropping down in some instances. A super-gifted athlete, Obvintsev is raw and needs to play and mature, but has remarkable dexterity, moves extremely well laterally, and is said to have the blocker of any netminder selected in the draft.

With Russia still banned by the IIHF, Obvintsev did not have a chance to play internationally as a youngster, and the Leafs likely want to start developing him in ECHL Cincinnati, with Akhtyamov and Samuel Hlavaj between the pipes with the Marlies, and veteran Ken Appleby adding organizational depth. Peksa was not given a qualifying offer after posting a 3.78 GAA and .869 save % in 12 AHL games, but that does not rule out a return on an AHL deal.