Maple Leafs prospect checkpoint: How has Topi Niemelä fared through 5 months of 2025-26?

After spending the previous two seasons with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL, Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Topi Niemelä opted this summer to head back overseas, signing a one-year deal with the Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish Hockey League. There, he hoped to benefit from additional minutes to get his career back on track after a disappointing year with the Marlies.

So far with the Redhawks, the 23-year-old defenceman has four goals and 11 assists, appearing in all 43 of the team’s games. He has looked decent, though inconsistent, not posting any standout numbers. Averaging just over 18 minutes a night, he is currently fourth amongst Malmö defenders in TOI/game. He currently has one of the worst plus/minuses on the team, sitting at minus-8 (the team has a minus-4 goal differential overall). Niemelä is 24th amongst defenders league-wide in hits (29) and 23rd in shots blocked (39).

Niemelä was originally selected 64th overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft while playing in his home country of Finland with Kärpät U20. He was touted as a strong defensive defender who still needed to add some size at 6’0″ and 163 lbs. (he is now listed at 179 lbs.). In the 2024-25 season, he had two goals and 20 assists with the Marlies, a step down from the eight goals and 31 points he registered the year prior.

In August, Niemelä landed 12th on The Leafs Nation’s summer prospect rankings, and 10th on Daily Faceoff’s Leafs’ prospect pool breakdown from Steven Ellis. On Niemelä, Ellis wrote:

Once viewed as one of Toronto’s top prospects, Niemelä’s development stagnated after his first year with the Marlies. Everything about his 2024-25 season was underwhelming, and with no path back to the NHL, he elected to head back to Europe to play key minutes with the Malmö Redhawks. If all goes well, this could be similar to the Victor Soderstrom situation for the Boston Bruins. Soderstrom was once a highly touted prospect, but he just couldn’t make it work with the Arizona Coyotes. He signed in Sweden, played very well and now has an opportunity to make the Bruins out of training camp. The Leafs still hold Niemla’s rights, and if they feel he can be a consistent producer and limit his mistakes, they might give him another chance in a year or two.

Niemelä’s contract in the SHL expires at the end of this season, and should he choose to try and return to North America, the Maple Leafs still hold his rights as a restricted free agent. Given his unremarkable time with the Redhawks, he isn’t yet making too compelling a case for a better run at the NHL, and may still benefit from more time in Europe.