Leafs Top-40 Prospect List - #22

Be sure to like HockeyBuzz on facebook! For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter *******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.******* The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Pierre Engvall, and Justin Holl), but the club under GM Kyle Dubas has to keep replenishing the prospect pool to provide the Leafs with youngsters who can step up and replace veterans who retire, depart via free agency or are traded. As we did last year, we will rank 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: #40 - Vladislav Kara – LW (Yugra - VHL) #39 - Kalle Loponen – D (Koo Koo Kouvola/JyP HT – Finland SM-Liiga) #38 - Jeremy McKenna – RW (Wichita – ECHL, Toronto – AHL) #37 - John Fusco – D (Harvard – NCAA) #36 - Noel Hoefenmayer – D (Newfoundland – ECHL, Toronto – AHL) #35 - Ryan Chyzowski - LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #34 - Braeden Kressler - C (Flint - OHL) #33 - Nikita Grebyonkin - RW (Stalnye Lisy - MHL, Magnitogorsk - KHL) #32 - Vyacheslav Peksa - G (Ibris Kazan - MHL) #31 - Dryden McKay - G (Minnesota Duluth - NCAA) #30 - Bobby McMann - C (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #29 - Pavel Gogolev – LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto – AHL) #28 - Joe Miller – C (Chicago – USHL) #27 - Veeti Miettinen – RW (St. Cloud St. – NCAA) #26 - Brandon Lisowsky - LW (Saskatoon - WHL) #25 - Max Ellis - RW (Notre Dame - NCAA, Toronto - AHL) #24 - Axel Rindell - D (Karpat - Finland SM-liiga) #23 - Mac Hollowell - D (Toronto - AHL) #22 - Artur Aktyamov - G (Ak Bars Kazan - VHL/MHL/KHL) The Maple Leafs have shifted to a shotgun approach for their goaltending organizational depth, with five netminders either in Europe or the lower professional levels in North America under the age of 25, in hopes that one will become the first internal candidate to be a full-time starter since James Reimer over a decade ago. One of their long-term projects is Russian goalie Artur Ahktyamov. The 20-year-old was selected in the fourth round (106th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft 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 Nashville first-round pick 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.…