Leafs Top 50 Prospects – Topi Niemelä

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’s Kyle Dubas and Brad Treliving, and new GM John Chayka have had different ideas of what kind of prospects they wanted to populate the organization with.

As we’ve done on a yearly basis, we will be 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 82 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:

Leafs Prospect List

#50 – Blake Smith – D (Toronto – AHL)
#49 – Henrik Rybinski – F (Hershey – AHL)
#48 – Sawyer Boulton – F (Reading – ECHL, Lehigh Valley – AHL)
#47 – Cole McWard – D (Bridgeport – AHL, NY Islanders – NHL)
#46 – Rylan Fellinger – D (Flint – OHL)
#45 – Sam Stevens – F (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#44 – Brody Pepoy – F (Saginaw – OHL)
#43 – Matt Lahey – D (Michigan State – NCAA)
#42 – Yaroslav Fedoseyev – D (Chelyabinsk Clemet – VHL, Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)
#41 – Cade Webber – D (Toronto – AHL)
#40 – Matthew Hlacar – F (Kitchener – OHL)
#39 – Will Belle – RW (US Nat’l Development Program)
#38 – Cooper Williams – C (Saskatoon – WHL)
#37 – Patriks Plumins – G (Zemgale – Latvia)
#36 – Chas Sharpe – D (Toronto – AHL)
#35 – Hayes Hundley – D (St. Thomas – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#34 – Hudson Malinoski – C (Providence – NCAA)
#33 – Joe Miller – C (Harvard – NCAA)
#32 – Juuso Ainasto – G (Jokerit Jr. – Finland)
#31 – Semyon Der-Argushintsev – C (Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)
#30 – Mans Gudmundsson – D (Farjestads Jr. – Sweden)
#29 – Landon Sim – RW (Toronto – AHL)
#28 – Ryan Kirwan – F (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#27 – Sam McCue – LW (Brantford/Ottawa – OHL)
#26 – Samuel Hlavaj – G (Iowa Wild – AHL)

#25 – Topi Niemelä – D (Malmo – SHL)

Niemela made the most dramatic decline in the prospect rankings because of his departure from North America to play in the SHL. It was doubtful that he would ever play with the Leafs organization under Treliving, but Toronto still retains his rights because they made a qualifying offer last summer when he became a restricted free agent.

The Leafs went heavy on European prospects in 2020, which was likely a tactic implemented because of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide a longer development window. Former GM Kyle Dubas moved down in the 2020 NHL Draft to get extra picks, trading a mid-second-round pick (Tyler Kleven) to Ottawa for a late second (Roni Hirvonen) and a third-round pick, which the Leafs used to select Finnish defenseman Niemela.

Niemela played 58 games over two seasons in the SM-Liiga with Karpat as a 17- and 18-year-old and tallied 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists), but had a coming-out party at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships, leading all defensemen in scoring with eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in seven games and earning the prize for the tournament’s top blueliner.

He broke out offensively, finishing sixth in Liiga among defensemen with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) and six assists in seven games at the 2022 WJC, and in May 2022 signed an entry-level deal with the Leafs. In his fourth year with Karpat, due to a coaching change, the young blueliner lost power-play time and his scoring numbers dropped to 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists) in 58 games, but once he came to North America, his scoring prowess returned.

Niemela had two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in six games at the end of the AHL season with the Marlies, and five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in seven playoff games.

“He’s a really good defender, really quick to close gaps, take away time and space.…” Leafs former Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley said. “(Niemela is) a first-pass guy, not necessarily going to run your power play. Good instincts….not the biggest guy, so not overly physical at this time since he’s playing against men, (but) one of the best defensive instincts in the entire draft.…

In his first full season with the Marlies, Niemela showed excellent speed and passing ability, leading the club in defensive scoring (39 points – 8 goals, 31 assists in 68 games) and was particularly effective as a power-play quarterback, with 13 assists during the man advantage, but he lost that role to William Villeneuve in 2024-25 and his numbers plummeted to 22 points (2 goals, 20 assists).

Niemela signed with the Malmo Redhawks of the SHL last summer and posted 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists) in 52 games. This season, the 24-year-old is shifting to IF Björklöven.