We’re back! Welcome to the first edition of the Leafs Prospect Roundup for the 2022-23 season. Every Monday, we’ll bring you up to date on the latest from the Leafs’ prospect pool, including news, stats, and highlights.
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Sweden’s playoffs started yesterday, and Finland’s are coming in a few weeks. Soon it will all be over but the contract negotiations.
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Drafted Prospects
LW - 19 years old - shoots left - second pro year primarily in the KHL
Amirov returned to the MHL for playoffs after his KHL team was eliminated, and he’s got three assists in four games played so far. His team is in the semifinals against Dynamo Moscow’s junior club, but they are down two games to none in a best-of-five series, so it’s quite the climb to get to the finals.
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More of the Maple Leafs prospects are heading to playoffs or heading home with the season over, while Rodion Amirov is facing a tough second-round opponent in today’s report.
The KHL playoffs move to the second round on Wednesday, and they have the same format as the NHL playoffs in a normal season. Two conferences go from eight teams to one who then meet to play off for the cup. The difference is the KHL is lacking the parity the NHL has, so the first round matches are almost all four of five games long. The second round is sometimes as lopsided, and things don’t get real until the conference finals.
It was a successful Saturday at the World Juniors for Maple Leafs prospects, as all six booked a trip to the semifinals with wins by Finland and Russia.