Looking ahead to the 2023 World Juniors, the Leafs are a long shot to have any prospect representatives
Topi Niemela, Roni Hirvonen and Matthew Knies represented the Leafs at the now and finally concluded 2022 World Juniors. It was a coming out party of sorts for Hirvonen and Niemela, who finished with a silver medal after losing in overtime to Canada last night.
Hirvonen, while small in stature at 5'9, showed that he plays much bigger than he is and isn't afraid to get into the dirty areas, scoring all 3 of his goals from just outside of the crease. He finished with 7 points in 7 games.
Niemela added 6 assists, but was a minute muncher for Finland on the blueline, often drawing the opposition's toughest lines. He averaged over 20 minutes per game and more than held his own defensively.
Knies did not have the best tournament, registering just 3 assists in 5 games for Team USA, but that was mainly because of the way he was deployed. He was used as a net-front presence and while he played physical and used his size to protect the puck, he didn't have many opportunities to display his skills or shoot pucks.
With none of Hirvonen, Knies or Niemela eligible to return in December for the 2023 tournament, here are 5 Leaf prospects that we could see, though they are long shots:
Braeden Kressler (CAN), Brandon Lisowsky (CAN), Fraser Minten (CAN), Nick Moldenhauer (CAN), Ty Voit (USA)
Of those five, the two most likely to make appearances at the 2023 tournament are Minten and Voit. Kressler and Lisowsky are very long shots and would need massive starts to their seasons just to get an invite to camp. Moldenhauer is more likely to get an invite to camp, but to make the team, he would need to get off to a quick start as well. Minten was one of the last cuts for the this past rendition of Team Canada and will likely be at selection camp, barring unforeseen circumstances. He will have to impress every day at camp to earn a spot, but a strong start to his season won't hurt either.
Voit, the only non-Canadian on the list, was at the States' selection camp, but was cut from the team. With Knies, Cooley and a few other forwards (likely) not returning for the 2023 tournament, Voit could help fill the offensive void left by some of Team USA's departures.
In a perfect world, the Leafs would have all 5 of them make Team USA and Team Canada, but the two most likely options to find themselves in Halifax and Moncton in December are Voit and Minten - and even they aren't locks.
| POLL | ||
21 AOUT | 147 ANSWERS Looking ahead to the 2023 World Juniors, the Leafs are a long shot to have any prospect representatives Will the Leafs have any representation at the 2023 WJC tournament in December/January? | ||
| Yes | 86 | 58.5 % |
| No | 61 | 41.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
