The Toronto Maple Leafs have been the beneficiary of tapping into the European leagues in the Brendan Shanahan era. Earlier this year, the Leafs tapped into the Swedish Hockey League, signing 21-year-old SHL Rookie of the Year Andreas Borgman and 23-year-old Calle Rosen.
Reports on Wednesday indicate that the club is looking at bolstering their blueline with KHL defenseman Igor Ozhiganov.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Mike Babcock travelled to Russia recently to meet with Ozhiganov, who is entering his eighth KHL season.
A native of Krasnogorsk (a suburb of Moscow), the 24-year-old has played for CSKA Moscow for four of his seven seasons and scored a career-high 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 50 games last season.
The right-handed shooter played for Russia at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Edmonton/Calgary and was a teammate of Leafs blueliner Nikita Zaitsev in 2015-16.
A source indicated that Ozhiganov has the size to play in the NHL (6’2”, 214 lb.), is a good skater, controls the puck well, has hockey sense, possesses a heavy shot and can play the power play (he won the hardest shot at the KHL’s All-Star game last January).
While he can play a disciplined game, it is possible that Ozhiganov’s skill set would be more conducive to the style played in the NHL.
Ozhiganov was acquired to lead CSKA’s defense with Zaitsev leaving for the NHL, but the KHL club felt he has not lived up to expectations.
The blueliner’s KHL contract expires after their season, which means he will not be available to sign with any NHL club until next April or May.
The revelation of the Leafs interest in Ozhiganov is very similar to that of their pursuit of Zaitsev, who came to Toronto and spoke with the Leafs in the summer of 2015. From that point forward, rumors persisted that Toronto would be the destination and Zaitsev finally signed with the Leafs in May 2016 after the Gagarin Cup Final.
The KHL season has just begun and Ozhiganov has been scratched by CSKA for the first two games, as Moscow has added former NHLer’s Alexei Marchenko and Nikita Nesterov to their blueline.
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