Sweden

Alexander Steen

Steen started the year on fire with the Frölunda Indians of the Swedish Elite League. The playmaking center had 18 points in his first 19 games and was among the league leaders in points. However after returning from playing for a Swedish team in the Karjala Cup, Steen was moved from the first line to the third. He is now playing with Kings prospect Jens Karlsson and Jonas Esbjors and has accumulated a measly 2 points (1 goal and 1 assist) in the 22 games since then. He currently sits sixth in scoring for fourth place Frölunda.  Steen also played for Team Sweden at the 2004 World Juniors, where he scored 2 goals and 1 assist. Sweden finished a disappointing seventh.

Staffan Kronwall

Kronwall is currently playing in his sophomore season in the SEL with third place Djurgården. He’s a hard working defensively responsible rearguard who is still making strides with his offensive game. He isn’t flashy, but most seem to think that he does have some offensive potential. His offensive numbers have taken a slight hit compared to last year, but most of that can be attributed to the fact that Staffan has been playing a primarily defensive first role with Djurgården. Kronwall’s physical game and work around the crease remain his best attributes.

Finland

Jarkko Immonen

The Leafs eighth round selection of the 2002 Entry Draft (254^th overall) has exploded onto the European hockey league scene this year. Jarkko Immonen (not to be confused with the Dallas Stars draft pick of the same name) is currently playing very well with JYP of the SM-Liiga in Finland. While JYP is currently sitting in the lower half of the SM-Liiga standings, Immonen has enjoyed much personal success. He has joined forces with Antti Virtanen and Jaakko Uhlbäck to form one of the most dangerous lines in the league, known as the “VIU” line. Immonen currently sits tied for seventh in points with 41 and 6^th in goals with 20 in 44 games played. He gets a ton of ice time and is counted on as a leader of his team. JYP head coach Matti Alatalo uses Immonen in all situations, especially as a faceoff specialist. Immonen also took part in the Karjala Cup tournament and won the best forward title. Because of his sensational breakout season, Immonen was signed to a contract extension by JYP, inking him for another year. The contract with JYP could pose as a predicament to the Maple Leafs should they wish to bring him over, but regardless Jarkko Immonen has established himself as a rising Finish star.

Markus Seikola

Defenseman Markus Seikola has had a disappointing year so far. Expected to possibly break out and establish himself as a solid SM-Liiga defenseman, Seikola has struggled to consistently perform for a strong TPS defense core. While he hasn’t been downright horrible, Seikola hasn’t improved or progressed to the level that was expected of him this season. His 6 points in 38 games are leaving him at about the same level he has played at for the past three seasons. After showing much potential as a late round steal early on, Seikola’s stagnation must be a concern to the Leafs organization.

Russia

Maxim Kondratiev

After starting the year in North America with the Maple Leafs, Kondratiev was sent back to Russia in order to receive more playing time. This was a good move for his development because St. John’s (AHL affiliate) is currently stockpiled with defensive talent and playing time would have been inconsistent for Maxim. Since returning to Lada Togliatti of the Russian Super League, Kondratiev has continued with the strong play he displayed in North America to begin the season. He is currently playing on the second defensive unit, which is quite the accomplishment because Lada is currently only point off first place and one of the most competitive teams in Russia. His offensive numbers haven’t been extremely impressive because of Lada’s defensive style of play, however Kondratiev has been solid in his own end and has gained the trust of head coach Petr Vorobiev, suggesting his ice time could very well increase as the Super League playoffs approach.

Konstantin Volkov

The Leafs fourth rounder from last year’s entry draft started the season in the Dynamo Moscow system. He was playing for THK Tver of the Upper League and centering their second line. Near the beginning of the season he was transferred into Lada Togliatti’s system and was assigned to CSK Samara, again of the Upper League. He is currently centering their top line and is playing reasonably well. Lada has stated that Volkov is in their plans for next season, which bodes well for his development.

Alexander Shinkar

Shinkar has struggled this year with Salavat Yulayev of the Super League. He got very limited ice time and managed to score only two goals before his rights were relinquished to another club, SKA St. Petersburg. He has played one game with SKA so far and went pointless. The late 2000 draft pick is looking like a long shot to ever play well enough to warrant a contract from the Maple Leafs.

Ivan Kolozvary

The Slovakian forward has continued on another season with Dukla Trencin back in Slovakia. Kolozvary, a seventh rounder from 2001, has stagnated somewhat this year. He’s again been stuck centering the third or fourth line for first place Dukla. Kolozvary still needs to bulk up and become stronger in order to improve his offensive production. Dukla had given him a goal to add more strength to his game coming into this season, but that goal wasn’t met and Kolozvary’s offensive production has stalled because of this. He has improved his defensive game though and has become a solid two way player. Next season Kolozvary should challenge for the No. 2 center position, however he still remains a long term prospect for the Leafs organization.

NOTES

·         No information was available on Maple Leafs 2001 sixth rounder, Jaroslav Sklenar. It is unknown what team he is currently playing for, so an update on him is not plausible.

·         Former Maple Leaf Prospect Vladimir Antipov has performed well in Russia this year, scoring 13 goals and 12 assists in 47 games for Lokomotiv of the Russian Super League. Antipov sits second in team scoring to former NHL’er Andrei Kovalenko.

Eugene Belashchenko, Tomas Egry, Pekka Lampinen, and Johan Nilsson contributed to this article.