Meet Maple Leafs goalie prospect Artur Akhtyamov: ‘He shows up and he wins’ - The Athletic
Akhtyamov’s selection by the Leafs was long overdue. The Leafs had failed to stock their goaltending pipeline in the previous two drafts, nabbing just one goalie, Zachary Bouthillier, in the seventh round in 2018. Bouthillier is no longer with the organization. Injuries forced the goalie they picked in 2017, Ian Scott, out of hockey.
Picking a goalie in 2020 with a consistent CV built on stopping pucks could turn out to be a pivotal move from the Leafs staff. Akhtyamov’s impressive AHL debut and equally impressive rise through Russia is a reminder that the Leafs’ goaltending pipeline has more potential than it has had in a generation. Woll, Dennis Hildeby and Akhtyamov were all drafted by the Leafs and are 26 or under.
Leafs management appears to be moving away from relying on athleticism and unpredictable movements in past goalies such as Ilya Samsonov. Instead, the drama-free, strong technical ability of goalies like Anthony Stolarz, Woll and perhaps down the road, Akhtyamov too, is preferred.
“He is a very technical goalie,” Hildeby said of Akhtyamov. “He reads the game well with great patience. The way he moves, he’s so smooth and quick.”
Time is on Akhtyamov’s side. Akhtyamov now sits comfortably at No. 5 in the organization’s goalie depth chart. He’ll remain the backup behind either Matt Murray or Hildeby with the Marlies all season. Next season should feature more of the same: AHL time with increased starts mixed in. His desire to improve is fierce.
“I didn’t like my game,” he said, perhaps strangely, of his incredible AHL debut. “It was a good result. But there were things I did wrong.”
In the short term, Akhtyamov will try to improve his stance positioning and stick play. What will determine any possible NHL future is how much quicker he can play in a league that, he already admitted, features a faster pace of play than he’s used to. His glove hand seems to already function at an NHL level. Learning to make up for a small-ish frame and play bigger in goal at the NHL level will be crucial for any future progress.
It’s all fine by Akhtyamov. As long as he’s putting in the work.
“I’m just a hockey player,” he said, shrugging, after being asked his goals for this season. “Just train and…I just want to play.”