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)
#17 – Timofei Obvintsev – G (Krasnaya Armiya Moskva – MHL)
#16 – Vyacheslav Peksa – G (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#15 – Cade Webber – D (Toronto – AHL)
#14 – Nick Moldenhauer – C (Michigan – NCAA)
#13 – Topi Niemela – D (Toronto – AHL)
#12 – Tyler Hopkins – C (Kingston – OHL)
#11 – Luke Haymes – C (Dartmouth – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#10 – Artur Akhtyamov – G (Toronto – AHL)
The Maple Leafs have adopted a shotgun approach with their goaltending prospects, with netminders playing either in Europe or the lower professional levels in North America under the age of 25. Joseph Woll became Toronto’s tandem starter last season, but the club is hoping that someone like Dennis Hildeby, Russian goalie Vyacheslav Peksa, or 2024 draftee Timofei Obvintsev steps up in the next few years. One of the trio of Russian goalies that Toronto has in the pipeline is 2020 draftee Artur Akhtyamov.
Akhtyamov was selected in the fourth round (106th overall) 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.
In 2023-24, 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 decided to demote him once again to the VHL, which was a factor in him coming to North America last season.
The 23-year-old had respectable numbers as part of the trio of goalies with the Marlies (11-8-4, 2.81 GAA, .901 save %) last season, but with veteran Matt Murray departing for Seattle, it is likely that Akhtyamov will handle more of the workload along with Hildeby and possibly Peksa in the AHL.
