Leafs prospect lighting it up to start the KHL season
Over the summer, Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Semyon Der-Arguchintsev decided to sign a contract in the KHL with Traktor Chelyabinsk, leaving North America for what he hopes will be a better opportunity. The Leafs did tender the young forward a qualifying offer, so they continue to own his NHL rights, but will be watching him from afar this season.
So far, it seems like Der-Arguchintsev has taken full advantage of the extra ice-time and opportunities as he has racked up 2 goals and 4 points in his first 3 games - including 2 goals in Traktor's recent 3-2 overtime loss to Lokomotiv.
After being drafted in the 3rd round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Der-Arguchintsev had a rough D+1 season with just 6 goals and 46 points in 62 games, but exploded the following season for 75 points in 55 games. He came over to the Toronto Marlies in 2020-21 and in parts of 3 seasons, he collected 25 goals and 76 points in 107 games.
It may be early in the season, but he is seeing plenty of ice-time with Traktor and is trying to make best of his opportunities as he is currently the third-line centre and is flanked by Yegor Fateyev and Vitaly Kravtsov.
In his first game of the season, he recorded a power play assist but only saw 10:57 TOI, mostly because he was called for a double minor penalty, which sent him to the box for 4 minutes. The following game, he played a team-high 20:45 in their 5-3 loss to Ak Bars, but recorded another power-play assist and then in his most recent game, he saw 18:11 TOI and fired 5 shots on goal.
If Der-Arguchintsev decides to return to North America at the end of his contract, following the 2024-24 season, the Leafs will still retain his rights, meaning that he'd play for either the Maple Leafs or the Marlies, unless traded to another organization.
