HockeyPatrol reported that Semyon Der-Arguchintsev's future was in limbo, but less than 24 hours later, we know his future with the Maple Leafs.
We touched on Der-Arguchintsev's future with the Maple Leafs on Saturday after there had been no word on whether or not the former 76th overall pick was going to come back to North America, or stay in Russia as his career was all of a sudden in limbo.
He had a desire to come back to Toronto but with a logjam up front and no real spot, it seems like the team has decided to forgo seeing what he can do.
Der-Arguchintsev forced to stick around in Russia after Toronto declines to offer him a spot
Leafs Nation News confirmed with sources that Der-Arguchintsev is not going to be offered a PTO or spot in camp, and that his career will continue in Russia for 2026-27:
Had it confirmed he will not be attending TOR camp on a PTO (or in general) since not signed.
There is still technically the option of dealing his rights, but as indicated in the article, him latching on with a KHL club late appears to be more likely at this stage.
Toronto can deal his rights away however have been consistently hesitant to do so, and still reportedly hold Der-Arguchintsev in high regard. Last year, Der-Arguchintsev had 37 points in 59 games with both Traktor Chelyabinsk and Dynamo Moskva.
For his KHL career, he's posted 101 points in 171 games, spending three years with Traktor before heading to Dynamo. With the KHL season already underway, it may take a little bit for Der-Arguchintsev to find a spot, but given his prior experience and production - it likely won't be too long.
Maple Leafs have only one year to really decide on Der-Arguchintsev's future
It does present Toronto a situation that they perhaps aren't looking forward to. If the team is forgoing him again this year, that means the team only has the 2027-28 season to figure it out, because after that his rights expire.
At that point he will be 26 years old and while there's going to be room for him given the numerous amount of contracts that expire that season as well. But that's not guaranteed, and if we start to see the Maple Leafs replacing players or re-signing those expired deals, their desire to bring in Der-Arguchintsev becomes apparent.
He's got great potential, and has proven that he can be a reliable piece in the KHL; the world's second largest professional hockey league. But whether the Maple Leafs believe that can translate into an NHL job has yet to be seen, and their decision to let Der-Arguchintsev stay in Russia shows they don't have that belief just yet - otherwise they'd already have the room for him.
Do you think Toronto made a mistake by not inviting Semyon Der-Arguchintsev to training camp?
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