Maple Leafs need to look at revisiting their Finnish prospects

People make mistakes. I know I’ve probably made several already today. I’m sure some of them are in this post and will be highlighted in the comment section. It happens.

I’ll admit to coming at this from a place of heavy bias, I’ve always liked both of these players a lot, especially Hirvonen. No one shows their work more than Hirvonen and you can see the effort from him in every game, every shift. He is consistent in that, he’s a leader, and he’s adaptable. He knows when to agitate, defend, or create offence. He’ll go to the tough parts of the ice and then on the next shift recognize the need for a conservative positional approach. The fact that he can do a little bit of everything endears him to me the same way I often look at someone like Curtis Lazar of the Edmonton Oilers as my ideal depth forward. He can be in the lineup every night giving something and whether it is the Leafs or someone else, someone needs to give Hirvonen his shot.

Topi Niemela is a player that I refuse to believe his skill evaporated overnight with. He had a strong debut in a limited run with the Marlies and followed that up by lobbing an absolute meatball up the ice in a preseason game for the Maple Leafs and it seemed like there was never going to be a serious opportunity given to him again after that.

Niemela was always fine for the Marlies and one of their better defenders but as far as call-ups to the Maple Leafs go, low risk veterans have been the go to outside of players like Marshall Rifai, who certainly fits the low risk preference angle.

William Villeneuve playing past Niemela last season made it seem like Topi was expendable, especially when the desire was to bring in more big bodies on the blueline. And this season, William Villeneuve has suffered the same fate as he and Niemela did last year, and outside of one call up where Villeneuve didn’t play, he’s remained on the Marlies while Thrun, Rifai, Benning, and Mermis have seen time in Leafs uniforms, in addition to Phillippe Myers playing 34 games of hockey that haven’t gone great.

Niemela as an undersized, not physical option that is capable of offence but doesn’t use it as his calling card has been pigeonholed as someone who was meant to develop as a powerplay specialist and never materialized as such. Because of that, the Leafs have ignored one of their better first pass out of the defensive zone options that could bring a puck moving element to a third pairing and should at least be able to match what third and fourth lines would be throwing at him offensively. The past two seasons have seen the Leafs pinned in their own end, embracing some of the internal puck moving options might not be a bad idea.

That brings us to this year. Topi Niemela is still very much doing Niemela things. He’s playing a big role on Malmo’s blueline and while not putting up the obscene offensive numbers he once did in Finland or his initial season in North America, he’s still showing he’s capable of chipping in some offence but not wanting to do so at the cost of defensive play.

I’m not sure you can really look at Hirvonen, Niemela, or even players that are still on the Marlies like Villeneuve, Groulx, Quillan, Haymes or Valis as the potential solutions to what ails the Leafs, but affordable depth means fewer slower veteran bottom sixers on contracts that exceed what they will be able to deliver. Good teams tend to rely on cheap contracts at the bottom of their lineup, at least before loading up at the trade deadline. And younger players tend to be cheaper than veterans as replacement level players, with a higher chance of outperforming their contracts. Given this and the success that Hirvonen and Niemela have had this season, hopefully we see the Maple Leafs bring them back with the intent of giving them a real shot at the Leafs lineup next fall.

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