Guy has 1 good season and then can't repeat it and you blame the GM. lol never change. Guy did the same in the Finnish league where he put up 32 points in 48 games and then followed that up with 18 in 52 the following season. Was that also GM biases?
I don't blame the GM for Niemela not repeating his offensive season. An early 20s defensive prospect having fluctuations in his offensive production is not abnormal, and he rebounded last time.
Villeneuve never got into the pre season either I believe and he has just outplayed Niemela on the Marlies. Only person holding Niemela back is himself. He's a small defender who doesn't have the skating ability to make up for that. Needs to get stronger and he hasn't done that either. They've made it clear what he needs to do and that's on him if he wants to or not, not the GM.
Doing something stupid more than once doesn't make it not stupid, and if anything, also doing it to Villeneuve reinforces that it's about GM bias, not anything Niemela did or didn't do. He's done more than enough to be treated better than he has.
It's odd that people have suddenly switched to the idea that he sucks. He's been one of our top defensive prospects; a right handed shot that did well in Sweden and the world juniors, put up 5 points in 7 games in his first AHL playoffs, and then led our AHL defense in scoring as a rookie last year. Even this year, he's second. You shouldn't throw away every 22 year old defenseman that isn't "destroying the AHL".
whole heartedly agree I’m wondering if they trade bacc for him cause he’s better then everyone other than our top pair at the very least him and oel would have looked like him and sandin 2.0
www.nytimes.com
Yes, 22 year old 3rd round drafted prospects aren't perfect in every aspect of play. But Niemela has shown more than enough that we shouldn't be purging him from preseason after a great season and tossing him aside. And while it's important to not get pushed off the puck, there seems to be a disconnect between the actual power/strength necessary to be an NHL defenseman and what this management team demands. "Niemela has the brain to play NHL games, but a change in managerial philosophy makes his long-term future in Toronto seem more in doubt than ever." And then they talk about him having opportunity elsewhere. I don't want to bleed prospects to our opponents because of a bad managerial philosophy.Bottom line, he hasn't done what they asked of him off the ice. He needs to be stronger, and faster... he needs to be working in the weight room, to build up what is needed for him to perform as a NHL D man. He's getting pushed off the puck in the AHL, do you think that is a good sign for the NHL?
Remember the 2021 World Juniors, when Topi Niemela had eight points in seven games for Finland and was voted the tournament’s top defenceman? Cracking an NHL lineup in four years didn’t seem out of the questionMaple Leafs prospect report: What’s next for Topi Niemela, Marshall Rifai and others
Marlies looking to take the next step, NCAA-based prospects in the middle of long development paths and players shining at World Juniors.
Instead, the puck-moving, right-shot blueliner finds himself in the AHL. The 22-year-old failed to impress at Leafs training camp. His points per game has dropped from his rookie AHL season in 2023-24. And he is now in the final year of his entry-level contract.
Once the high-water mark of the Leafs prospect pool, why isn’t Niemela in the NHL four years out from his stellar World Juniors?
“The very straightforward answer is strength and speed,” Maple Leafs assistant general manager Hayley Wickenheiser said.
Watching Niemela this season, too often he gets pushed off the puck while trying to execute creative hockey in the offensive zone. He has the smarts, and at 6 feet, Niemela isn’t tiny. But he hasn’t added enough requisite power in his frame and stride to help him drive play. And defensively, a lack of power has prevented him from making decisive defensive plays.
Now, adding size during the season is an uphill climb. But it’s hard not to sense the organization is starting to wonder whether Niemela can get his body NHL-ready. His on-ice responsibilities with the Marlies this season appear to have not taken a step, either.
“He’s really got to commit to getting his body to a place where he’s not going to get pushed off,” Wickenheiser said.
Niemela has the brain to play NHL games, but a change in managerial philosophy makes his long-term future in Toronto seem more in doubt than ever.
“The challenge is to try and rise up and make a very good hockey team,” Wickenheiser said. “It stacks the deck against some of the players, but I also think it’s a great opportunity: If you can continue to improve within the Marlies, there’s 31 other teams that are looking for players, too. If it doesn’t work out here, there may be an opportunity somewhere else.”
Well, at least you are more of an expert on our prospects than Wickenheiser.
She was asked why he hadn't made it yet, and she gave the reason. That doesn't mean the reason is justified, and even if the reason was justified, it certainly doesn't justify stripping normal opportunity and tossing him aside. Wickenheiser is the one talking as if he's going to be an NHL player somewhere one day, and they talk about him having an NHL brain. Those aren't prospects you give up on at age 22.
I'd rather not put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage chasing only one specific type of player that hasn't even helped us.
We've heard all of this about Liljegren before. Well guess what, he's on the worst team in the league and is still getting healthy scratched at times and their fans have even said on a contending team he's a bottom pair guy at best. These guys are supposed to bring offence and nothing else really and they are too inconsistent at doing that. That is why offensive defencemen have shorter leashes because if they can't provide the one thing they are supposed to be good at they'll put someone else in who can provide something else.
Who cares what their fans say look with your eyes there was maybe two Defenseman and that’s a big maybe that were better than him in the game against the sharks id take him over any of our bottom 4 dmen yeah I said it he isn’t flashy but he’s effective. Hes a better 2 way defender then rielly I’d much rather him at 3 then rielly at 7.5
Well they get to watch him every game unlike us now and they say the same thing a majority were saying here during his time here. People here have fallen in love with some of the weirdest players saying we're gonna regret trading that player and then they end up going to a bad team where they should be playing top minutes and still don't do anything. Rielly has been a consistent 50 point player when healthy and not just our best defender in the playoffs but you could argue our best player. So idk who would take Lili over Rielly because of a 4.5 mil difference in cap hits when Lili is a 20 point defender who is an overrated two way d man.
How do you know he hasn't put in the work? Maybe he has, but his weaknesses aren't improving. I don't see anything in those quotes which suggests he won't try too
Sandin, Lilly, Dermott, now Niemela. It's time we stop blaming the players, and start looking at our weak development system in developing d men.
I don’t care what rielly was hes been terrible this year our number 1 dman isn’t even on pp1 or pk1 wtf is that ? Hes had a few good games recently but he’s been a ghost this year every year we gotta get somebody specifically to play with him mccabe at 4 should have the a for the baccend riellys has had over a decade to show out and the one year we went to the second round is what we’re banking on?
I’d take the first 2 over rielly you should throw him in there too cause he’s no number 1 the whole league knows that whether they choose to say it or not is up to them Hes a defensive liability and he’s a defencemen wtf is going on here
Guy has a baby and has a slow start because that never happens. Even at his worst he's still producing better on the offensive side. Yeah it's pretty crazy all these years we couldn't draft a stay at home defenceman to pair with him so we don't have to trade for it every year or try and find it in FA. Tanev was supposed to be that guy but they went with a shutdown pair with our 2 best stay at home defenders instead which isn't a bad idea. What you mean he's had over a decade to show out? He was showing out on a steal of a deal while the core took every penny they could get and didn't carry the team anywhere.
