Topi Niemela's Sudden Emergence May Force Maple Leafs to Trade a Defenseman
After a stunning performance during the rookie games against the Canadiens, Maple Leafs' defensive prospect Topi Niemela has shown that he may be NHL ready.
As one of the bright spots on the back end for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Topi Niemela just had himself a fantastic weekend against the Montreal Canadiens' rookies, as he potted 5 assists and made some spectacular plays defensively.
The prospect games showed a lot of promise from both sides but Niemela certainly stood out above the rest. He looked great not only on the offensive side of things, but he made strong defensive plays, and quarterbacked the primary power play unit very well. Everything seemed to run through him at the point and he was rewarded with a few assists, including this one of the primary variety.
Drafted in the third round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Niemela spent his junior years with Karpat out of the SM-liiga in Finland. Playing competitively against grown men, Niemela recorded 10 goals and 32 points in 48 contests in 2021-22 and then added 18 points in 58 games the following year before making the jump to the AHL with the Marlies.
After a quick 6-game stint, where he recorded 2 points, Niemela had a strong rookie campaign, where he tallied 39 points in 68 contests with the Marlies, but more importantly, he impressed a lot of the top brass as a 22-year-old.
However, on the NHL roster, the Maple Leafs have a ton of defensemen that could be in his way of finally making his National Hockey League debut. Chris Tanev, Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are virtual locks throughout the season and then they are followed by Timothy Liljegren, Jani Hakanpaa, Simon Benoit, and Conor Timmins.
With a strong performance against his rookie counterparts under his belt, if Niemela has a strong enough training camp, he could force the Maple Leafs into making room for him at the top-level by making a trade or two to get rid of some bodies.
Only time will tell but it's a great sign that one of the Leafs' budding prospects on the backend is trending in the right direction.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 15 | 1309 ANSWERS Topi Niemela's Sudden Emergence May Force Maple Leafs to Trade a Defenseman Does Topi Niemela make the Maple Leafs roster outright from training camp? | ||
| Yes, he should be given an opportunity | 510 | 39 % |
| No, he needs more time in the AHL | 490 | 37.4 % |
| Only if they can move Timmins or Benoit | 309 | 23.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
