As the franchise looks for a younger, faster and hungrier roster, two former prospects who returned to Europe after their ELCs — Topi Niemela and Roni Hirvonen — are putting on performances that invite a reconsideration of their fits in Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen will be heading back to Finland as he signed a one-year deal with Oulun Kärpät of Liiga on Monday. Hirvonen is currently an RFA as he had completed his entry-level contract he signed with the Leafs in May 2022.
Now that the AHL’s Toronto Marlies season has ended at the hands of the Cleveland Monsters, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to recall several players for their playoff run.
Four years ago, over a mass zoom call that went on forever, the Maple Leafs traded their 44th overall pick for two other picks, the 59th and the 64th. This was a very slight overpay by strict pick-value calculations, but was essentially a fair trade with the Ottawa Senators.
NHL head coaches have to hire good assistants. They have to set an overarching philosophy, juggle lineup configurations, and do the kind of “man management” that is impossible to track statistically.
After a tragic beginning with the Toronto Maple Leafs, prospect Roni Hirvonen spoke about the injury he thought nearly ended his career. Roni Hirvonen has arguably had the most devastating start to a season with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization in years.
Health is wealth. This applies to every player in Toronto’s organization, but perhaps nobody appreciates it as much as Roni Hirvonen. Forget missing a couple of games, or even a couple of weeks due to injury, there was real concern last year that the 22-year-old may never play again.
“I love our start. We were rolling. We were disciplined. Once we took that 5-1 lead, even sometimes in the second period, I thought we got away from our game.
Last year about this time Leafs fans were divided on whether they wanted to see a quick exit for the University of Minnesota or if it was better that Matthew Knies take a legitimate run at the college national championship before joining the Leafs.
On July 8, 2023, Roni Hirvonen was motionless on the ice after taking a high hit from defenseman Nolan Dillingham during a Toronto Maple Leafs development camp scrimmage.
Last night the Toronto Marlies battled with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and for the second consecutive game, Roni Hirvonen laced them up. Not only did the 22-year-old play, but for the second match in a row, he registered an assist.
In this edition of Toronto Maple Leafs News & Rumors, I’ll use the downtime during the All-Star Break to catch fans up on some of the news about the American Hockey League (AHL) Toronto Marlies.
“It’s a good benchmark for us to see where we’re at and where we need to go.” – John Gruden On one hand, this was an excellent result for the Toronto Marlies.
It was just another regular season game for the Hershey Bears on Sunday, but it was even more than that for Roni Hirvonen and the Toronto Marlies. This was Hirvonen's first game since taking a stick to the eye on Oct.
With players like Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and Bobby McMann making their way to the Leafs and Matthew Knies bypassing the AHL altogether, Toronto doesn’t have a ton of readymade help waiting in the wings with the Marlies.
Roni Hirvonen might not be ready for game action, but he's one step closer. The 22-year-old joined Marlies practice on Thursday morning, his first full non-contact skate with the entire team since suffering an eye injury on Oct.