The Toronto Maple Leafs approach in stockpiling and developing talent appears to be along the same lines as the Detroit Red Wings, by increasing their scouting focus in Europe and cultivating prospects to be selected in the later rounds of the NHL Draft or signed as free agents.
The pipeline to Sweden has been fruitful for years, as former head European scout Thommie Bergman uncovered prospects Carl Gunnarsson, Viktor Loov and Andreas Johnson, but under Brendan Shanahan and Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter, the Leafs are putting more effort into finding talent in Russia and signing KHL prospects that can step into the NHL.
Winger Nikita Soshnikov is the first example of this strategy and has made quite an impression on head coach Mike Babcock after being called up from the American Hockey League.
''He's not intimidated by anything, he plays against good players. He plays with speed.… Babcock said after Soshnikov scored the shootout winner against the Islanders on Wednesday. “He plays without the puck. He's hard…. looks like he can score. He's good.''
Soshnikov signed a three-year entry-level deal with Toronto last March after scoring 32 points in his sophomore season with Moscow Oblast Atlant of the KHL, who folded after the 2014-15 season.
The 22-year-old winger adjusted quickly to the North American game with the Toronto Marlies, scoring 18 goals and 10 assists in 50 games and looks to be well positioned to make the Leafs next season.
On Friday, the Leafs recalled 20-year-old defenseman Rinat Valiev from their AHL affiliate, who will likely get his first NHL start against the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday. Valiev moved to North America in 2013 and played for the WHL’s Kootenay Ice before being drafted by Toronto as a 19-year-old 68th overall in 2014.
After another season in the WHL and playing for Russia in the 2015 World Junior in Toronto/Montreal, the 6’2… 208 lb blueliner joined the Marlies and has moved ahead of Stuart Percy on the organization’s depth chart with a solid rookie season (3 goals, 18 assists, 28 PIM, +32 in 54 games).
The Russian trend looks to be continuing this offseason, as defenseman Nikita Zaitsev will sign with Toronto after the completion of the KHL season and the club may be in the mix for free agent winger Anatoly Golyshev.
Golyshev was a teammate of Valiev on Russia’s 2015 WJC squad and led Ekaterinberg with a career-high 44 points (25 goals, 19 assists) this season.
ICYMI: On Anatoly Golyshev, the unsigned 20-year-old who ripped apart the KHL this year: https://t.co/JNVOYixB37 pic.twitter.com/vPFzASIpI0
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) February 29, 2016
The 5’8…, 180 lb winger fits into the Leafs recent trend of adding highly skilled and speedy players and in a detailed analysis, Jeff Veillette of Leafs Nation reports that multiple NHL teams are monitoring the 21-year-old Russian.
For the Leafs to be a competitive team before the end of the decade, they cannot rely simply on the addition of top picks, they will have to make the right trades, find success with picks lower in the draft and find more gems like Soshnikov and potentially Zaitsev.
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