Promising Maple Leafs Prospect Officially Leaves the Organization

There were a few Maple Leafs prospects who have been hanging around for a few years who haven't gotten a chance to showcase what they have yet. Roni Hirvonen, Mikko Kokkonen and Alex Steeves have all been given barely any looks even though they could have helped the team at points.

But no one has been unable to get into the swing of things more than Topi Niemala, as the defenseman has been a mainstay for the Marlies, but never gotten a chance with the big boys even when they needed some offensive help.

So getting tired of not being given an opportunity, Niemala took it upon himself to take his career into his own hands and decided to leave the Maple Leafs and sign in Sweden with the Malmo Redhawks.

The move signals the end for Niemala, who spent three seasons with the Marlies, scoring 63 points in 135 games (11G, 52A) while adding seven points in 12 playoff games.

He was drafted 64th overall by the Maple Leafs in 2020, and was selected over names such as Alex Laferriere and Mikael Pyyhtia.

Niemala spent four seasons with Karpat of the SM-Liiga (Finnish Pro League) and was a very solid contributor there. In 164 games he registered 61 points (19G, 42A) an impressive total given he was a teenager for part of that time.

With Toronto's new shift in mentality, and the fact that Niemala has been extremely streaky, it was seemingly going to be more of the same, and though the Maple Leafs wanted to add offense to their blueline, it seems they would rather not give Niemala that responsibility.

He will get a chance to showcase his talents back in Europe and there's a possibility he plays well enough to earn a spot somewhere in North America once again; hopefully in the NHL.

But for now, the Maple Leafs are losing one of their longest tenured prospects, who might have brought a lot of help to the team but never really hit that next level to prove that he could.