Toronto Maple Leafs news

Toronto's top defensive prospect lands just outside our top 5.

The sooner he can come over and adapt to the AHL, the better. Is he going to be so good on the power play that he gets PP1 minutes ahead of the team’s top pairing defender (whoever that might be)? dhammm: I don’t think Niemelä’s likely to become a star but he is very likely to become an impact NHLer. The main issue with Niemelä’s projection as a defenseman in the NHL is if he can physically handle it. The season after that is when he will likely spend a full year here in Toronto, either on the Marlies or on the Maple Leafs. Where before he was probably considered a tier down from the prospects ahead of him (Robertson, Sandin, Amirov, etc), now I’d say he’s considered in the same tier... He was named best defenseman for the tournament — ironically because of his points, as he was clearly not the most used and best overall defenseman on his team let alone the tournament. The issue will be if he can physically execute on what his decision making leads him to attempt in the NHL, or if NHL players can shrug him off and push him around. At the time, Niemelä was thought to basically only be a defensive defenseman, with only 7 points in 43 games. He led the tournament in points for defensemen with 8 in 7 games. It also is a lazy way to say if a player is good or bad even if you’re just talking offensively, and it ignores all the other ways a player can positively impact a game for his team. He had spent the whole of his draft year at the pro Liiga level, a good sign for such a young defenseman.