Artur Akhtyamov will continue career with Maple Leafs’ organization

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending prospect Artur Akhtyamov will leave AK Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) to further his career with the Maple Leafs organization, Akhtyamov’s agent, Dan Milstein confirmed via Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun.

Hockey News Hub was the first to report the story.

Akhtyamov posted a 6-7-0 record with a .921 save percentage and 2.51 goals against average in 17 appearances for AK Bars during the 2023-24 season. He primarily played in the VHL — Russia’s second-best professional hockey league — and was named Goaltender of the Year for the 2023-24 campaign with a 10-5-4 record, a .927 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average. Akhtyamov elevated his game during the VHL playoffs, posting a 16-5-0 mark with a 2.15 goals against average and a .923 save percentage and was named the Petrov Cup MVP.

The 22-year-old was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Maple Leafs and is considering among their most promising goaltending prospects, with Joseph Woll fully graduated as an NHL-level starter. It’s unlikely Akhtyamov will appear for the Maple Leafs in 2024-25 but he could be considered an emergency option as the team looks to deepen its goalie pool, while locking down a No. 2 starter ahead of the fall in the coming weeks. It’s become clear that his success at the professional level bodes well for the next stage of this development, against NHL-calibre shooters in training camp.

Toronto signed Akhtyamov to a three-year, two-way entry-level contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $851,667 on July 1, 2023. Because of the nature of his two-way deal, Toronto’s cap inflexibility and a careful consideration about the best pathway to further development and maturation, it’s possible that Akhtyamov begins the 2023-24 campaign with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.

Steven Ellis of The Leafs Nation put together a comprehensive guide of the Maple Leafs’ goaltending prospects in January and it’s certainly worth reading for more details on Akhtyamov and the rest of the team’s emerging netminders.