2024 TLN Maple Leafs Prospect Rankings: #20 Vyacheslav Peksa

The TLN Maple Leafs prospect rankings were compiled by a panel of seven TLN writers, each ranking our top 20 prospects to form a consensus group ranking. 

Rather than hard and fast limits on age or NHL games played to determine “prospect” eligibility, our group decided on a more nuanced approach to include any reasonably young player who is either under contract with the Leafs or on the club’s reserve list, who has not yet established himself as a full-time NHLer.

The past few years have seen the Maple Leafs somewhat obsessed with drafting Russian goaltenders. Artur Akhtyamov led the charge in 2020, Peksa came second being selected in the 6th round in 2021, and this year the Leafs added their 3rd Russian goaltender to the mix by taking Timofei Obvintsev. Despite being the second selected, Peksa was the first to North America, playing for the Newfoundland Growlers last season. It didn’t go great.

There’s a lot that can be rehashed about international-sized rinks vs. North America, the east/west games of overseas leagues versus more of a crash the net style in North America, and rightfully somewhat of a learning curve was going to need to be accounted for, but as the 2023-24 season came to a close, Peksa finished with a .890 save percentage in the ECHL with a 5-11-1 record for the Growlers, which put him behind Luke Cavallin and Dryden McKay in both utilization and outputs before the team folded.

There’s a bit of a caveat to talking about goaltenders and that is often that their numbers are linked to the team in front of them and the Growlers weren’t great. The fact that Peksa’s numbers were the lowest of the three Growlers goaltenders puts it in a bit of perspective but there is also the fact that Peksa’s first 8 games in the ECHL resulted in an .867 save percentage. That means he finished the year with a .906 save percentage in his final 11 games and while by no means shows he’s making the case for a spot on the Marlies, a 21 year old goaltender showing progress is enough reason to come back with a different approach this year.

In a lot of ways 2024-25 will be a fresh start for Peksa even if he’ll still be in the ECHL. McKay is gone and Cavallin remains unsigned. There is no longer Keith Petruzzelli to contend with and if anything, the Leafs will be putting Artur Akhtyamov with Peksa throughout the year to get his North America reps as well. Less competition and another Russian seems like a good start as well as Cincinnati being less out of the way than St. John’s when it comes to getting drop-ins from Leafs development personnel.

Peksa still has all of the selling points he originally had; it is just applying them. He’s still 6’3 and has the size that can’t be taught, but that is accompanied by athleticism and strong lateral movements across the crease that could see him take a significant step forward once he gets back to tracking the puck as well as he did in Russia. Working with Curtis Sanford and Hannu Toivonen as much as possible seems like a good way of getting Peksa ready for the next step and their knowledge of what works on international ice vs. North American will benefit Peksa’s development.

When looking ahead to the 2024-25 season, there should be opportunities for Peksa to take another step. The ECHL experience has been okay for him, but he needs to get more work than 19 games and in theory he’ll get that and be able to build off his growth in the latter part of the 2023-24 season. The Maple Leafs overall goaltending depth chart also looks very different, but also likely not finalized. With the Maple Leafs having two goaltenders who have never had even a 50% tandem workload in their NHL careers, the Marlies tandem of Hildeby/Murray will likely be called upon frequently as well. There are injury concerns there as well and it could be soon become evident that Matt Murray’s playing days are behind him. That is not a bad window of opportunity for Peksa who while the experienced goaltender in North America, will still likely be behind Artur Akhtyamov on the Leafs’ depth chart. It’s hard to imagine there won’t be at least two other goaltenders in the system (likely on AHL/ECHL deals) who will be vying for playing time, but Peksa, in theory, will be prioritized more with his experience and status in the Leafs system.

There is also the possibility that the ECHL experience doesn’t resonate with Peksa, and he can be loaned out and the Leafs will retain his rights and Peksa’s contract status remains intact. While not ideal from a development standpoint the Leafs could entertain loan options, and it is far more appealing that going an unconditional waivers route and cutting ties with a soon to be 22 year old goaltender.

While the underwhelming ECHL results and limited action in 2023-24 caused Vyacheslav Peksa to slide from 18th to 20th in our rankings, the strong results in Russia still left a number of the TLN voters with the mindset that a promising goaltender lottery ticket still carries value in what isn’t the deepest of prospect pools. I won’t say that 2024-25 is a make or break year for Peksa because almost every year is a make or break year for NHL prospects, but realistically when we embark on our 2025 Maple Leaf prospect rankings, we should be talking about Peksa as part of the Marlies.

With goaltenders often being projects and not fully NHL ready until around 25, there is plenty of time here. There just needs to be progress and a willingness to see things through in the ECHL/AHL.

Data from Elite Prospects