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The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander), but the club under former GM Kyle Dubas replenished their prospect pool to provide the Leafs with young prospects. It will now be up to new GM Brad Treliving to continue that work.

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 and are 25 years old or younger:

#40 - Rodion Amirov – LW (Ufa Salavat – KHL, Did Not Play)
#39 Ryan Chyzowski - LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#38 Dryden McKay - G (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#37 - Wyatt Schingoethe – C (Western Michigan – NCAA)
#36 Zach Solow - RW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#35 John Fusco – D (Dartmouth – NCAA)
#34 Kalle Loponen – D (Koo Koo Kouvola/HPK – Finland SM-Liiga)
#33 Noah Chadwick - D (Lethbridge - WHL)

#32 Semyon Kizimov - RW -(Nizhnekamsk/Yekaterinberg - KHL)



The Leafs have struck gold in the late rounds of the draft over the last decade, whether it be Andreas Johnsson in 2013, Pierre Engvall in 2014, or Pontus Holmberg in 2018, but it took both wingers four to five years to develop and gain experience. Toronto hoped for similar good fortune when they selected Russian product Semyon Kizimov 211th overall in the 2018 Draft in Chicago.

Semyon Kizimov (#13) becoming a KHL scorer is one of the more random things to happen this season among Leafs prospects. The 2018 7th-rounder had 2 goals on Friday against Salavat.

Totals (KHL, LW): 9 GP, 3 G, 6 PTS, 11:49 ATOI pic.twitter.com/CbgJj6ywOd

— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) January 21, 2023

The 6’0”, 176 lb. winger was Kizimov scored a pair of goals for Russia in the Under-18’s in 2018, but drifted through a series of unspectacular years in the second-level VHL and a brief stint in the KHL with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in 2021. Last season, the 23-year-old was traded to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg and signed a one-year deal and got an opportunity to play at a higher level after being loaned to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, scoring 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in 22 games.

This season, Kizimov may get a chance with Yekaterinburg and if he builds on the progress he showed last season, he could pop up on the Leafs radar in terms of signing an NHL entry-level deal and playing in North America.

2018 7th-rounder Semyon Kizimov (#13) scored his 1st career KHL goal yesterday in his debut for Neftekhimik. A fringe prospect at this point (31st in my latest rankings) but nice to see him finally break through after multiple years in the VHL.

Totals (KHL, LW): 3 GP, 1 G pic.twitter.com/jGrYkOFdJi

— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) January 5, 2023

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