Leafs' top European prospect may soon be on his way to Toronto

On the subject of Niemela, his SM-Liiga club, Karpat, wrapped up their regular season today and will have the opportunity to play their way into the playoffs in the Wild Card round. They're slated to play KooKoo for their shot at the playoffs.

The significance of this news is that Niemela is likely to travel to North America to join the Toronto Marlies at the conclusion of Karpat's season/playoffs. This means that if Niemela and Karpat fall short against KooKoo, we could see Niemela in Toronto sooner than expected.

With Timothy Liljegren now mostly a full-time NHLer, Niemela is the Leafs' top defensive prospect in the system. While his offensive production has dipped this season, his defensive instincts remain very good and his intelligence and decision-making are still top quality as well. He's still likely a year or two away from making the jump to the NHL, but once he's here in North America, we'll have a much better idea of where his overall game is at on a good team like the Marlies.

Niemela finishes his regular season with 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists) in 59 games. Again - a pretty significant dip from the 32 points he notched in 48 games last year.