Leafs rookie will make his NHL debut wearing a number never worn by a Leaf in the team's 105-year history
Much to the surprise of many in Leafs Nation, 2018 3rd round pick Semyon Der-Arguchintsev was called up from the Toronto Marlies this weekend in a move that nobody saw coming, despite SDA's really strong start in the AHL this year.
There was a healthy amount of speculation following the call-up that Der-Arguchintsev was simply the beneficiary of a call-up to earn a few days of NHL pay with the Leafs having a few days between games. When the 22-year-old skated in a white jersey befitting a bottom-six player rather than an extras grey jersey on Monday, it became clear that SDA could actually see some game action with the Leafs this week after producing 18 points in 20 games with the Marlies so far.
SDA's path to the NHL wasn't exactly an easy one, having gone from the OHL to the ECHL, back to the OHL, to the KHL and then spending 3 seasons in the AHL with the Marlies. Now, with his debut tonight for the Leafs in Dallas, Der-Arguchintsev will become the 6th player that the Leafs picked out of 9 selections who will have played at least one NHL game. Pretty incredible if you stop and think about it.
As far as which number Der-Arguchintsev will wear, the team announced that he'll go with #85, a number which has not been worn by any other player in the team's 105-year history. SDA has previously worn the number 19 with the Peterborough Petes and the numbers 19, 43 and 85 with the Toronto Marlies.
| POLL | ||
6 DECEMBRE | 728 ANSWERS Leafs rookie will make his NHL debut wearing a number never worn by a Leaf in the team's 105-year history Will Semyon Der-Arguchintsev record a point in his NHL debut? | ||
| Yes | 379 | 52.1 % |
| No | 349 | 47.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
