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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 focus of prospect development under former GM Kyle Dubas and the last few seasons under Director of Amateur Scouting Wes Clark seemed to be on skill players, while GM Brad Treliving has begun to transition with a focus on young players with size.
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.
Youngsters like Bobby McMann, Joseph Woll, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and top rated Matthew Knies have graduated, but here is a list of players eligible for the list who have not played more than 40 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:
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.
The 6’0”, 176 lb. winger 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. In 2022-23, the 24-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.
Last season, Kizimov played only nine regular season games for Yekaterinburg, but scored three goals in 14 playoff games, as Automobilist reached the league’s semi-final. In early July, the winger reportedly signed a two-year deal to remain with his KHL club, making it more unlikely that he will ever play for the Leafs.
Yegor Alexeyev qui s'arrache et Semyon Kizimov qui a bien suivi pour débloquer le match pic.twitter.com/6xnQtEmkSS
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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