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Leafs looking for young trio as long range blueline candidates

September 17, 2022, 3:37 PM ET [40 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs enter the 2022-23 season with an experienced defensive corps that includes Morgan Rielly, TJ Brodie, former Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano, Jake Muzzin, Justin Holl, and youngsters Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin, but with over half of the group over the age of 30 and only Rielly signed past next season, the club’s development staff is looking for some of the club’s prospects to develop over the next couple seasons and fill some of the slots that will become available.

2020 third-round pick Topi Niemela is considered Toronto’s top defensive prospect. The 20-year-old had 32 points with Karpat last season, played in his second straight World Junior Championship, and was an extra for Finland at the Beijing Olympics, and after signing his entry-level in May, Niemela will likely play one more year in the SM-Liiga before coming over to play in North America in 2023.

The Leafs are transitioning from a more experienced group in the AHL (Joseph Duszak signed with Dynamo Minsk, Kristians Rubins with Ottawa, Chad Krys in Austria) to a younger group led by Finnish defenders Mikko Kokkonen and Axel Rindell, and 2020 draftee William Villeneuve.

Kokkonen and Rindell have several seasons of experience in the Finnish league but need to see if they can successfully transition to the North American game.

“There is always a transition,” Leafs Asst. GM Ryan Hardy said on Wednesday. “Whether it is a smaller rink or just coming to North America, you probably take for granted a little bit the transition for a young person moving away from home or what is normal and comfortable for them.

As we always are, we will be patient with the young players, but they are very talented, so I certainly expect that they will pick certain things up in short order.”

Perhaps the most intriguing prospect is Villeneuve, who transformed his game from a one-dimensional puck rusher to playing a solid two-way game and winning a Memorial Cup with Saint John in his final year of junior.



“(Villeneuve) is an extremely smart player with a lot of poise with the puck. He has done a really nice job this summer. If you look at him and the work he has put in on his body, it has been phenomenal.” Hardy said. “When players transitioning from junior to professional take that time and attack it that diligently, it probably shortens the learning curve.

That being said, he is another guy that, because of what he can do with the puck, with his size and his right shot, everybody is extremely excited about, especially at an event like this where you can see some real positive flashes from him.”

Villeneuve’s promise and being right-handed could accelerate his path to the NHL if his two-way abilities translate to the professional game. That being said, the Leafs near future with their age on defense likely makes any trade of Sandin (currently an unsigned RFA) a fantasy.

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