TLN Prospect Profile: #18 Dmytro Timashov
By Shawn Reis
8 years ago
Our summer 2015 rankings of the 20 best Toronto Maple Leafs prospects continues today. Coming in at #18 and making the first appearance of anybody on our list drafted this past June is Quebec Remparts winger Dmytro Timashov.
For this article we’re going to take a look at Timashov’s playing style, what sort of numbers he has (both fancy and otherwise), as well as a look ahead to next season, which figures to be a big one for the skilled Swedish forward.
SCOUTING REPORTS
Lots of people have lots to say about Timashov. Here are some scouting reports:
Corey Pronman (ESPN):
A player of Swedish/Ukrainian descent, Timashov has never played in an
IIHF game, was good but not amazing last season in Sweden, and then came
overseas for 2014-15 and lit the Quebec league on fire. He’s a
fantastic skater with explosive acceleration and speed, and combined
with his puck-handling skills, this makes him very threatening off the
rush. Timashov has a lot of flash to his game, and though he can force
plays at times, overall he makes a lot happen. He’s another undersized
guy, with the requisite issues in one-on-one battles and in the
defensive zone.
Scott Wheeler (McKeen’s Hockey):
Timashov uses his size to create in a different way, serving as
a distributor, rather than Beauvillier’s shoot-first mentality. In
fact, the elusive passer has already surpassed the assist totals for all
2014 draftees out of the QMJHL, with 61 assists in 56 games. Playing
with 2013 second round pick Adam Erne, Timashov has served as a set-up
man for one of the league’s more prolific finishers.Timashov, who is of Ukrainian descent, has led his team in
scoring as a first-year player in the QMJHL and on North American ice.
He has previously represented Sweden internationally, posting point per
game totals at last year’s Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament (U18) after
dominating Sweden’s junior ranks with MODO J20, with a few games with
the senior team in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).Timashov uses impressive speed to create chances off the rush,
unafraid to hang onto the puck until an opportunity presents itself or
stop up and find a seam through the middle of the ice.
Future Considerations:
Timashov is an electrifying forward who makes plays out of nothing. He is a very fluid skater
and he is always moving his feet. He has very good hockey sense and seems to always be in
the right place at the right time. He is small in stature but makes up for it with his quickness and
hockey smarts; he is always aware of his surroundings. He also seems to avoid hits and rolls off
potential checks thanks to his agility. Everything with this guy is at top speed. He sees a lot of
powerplay time and does major damage with the extra man. Spins off checks and makes clever
passes. Timashov gets to top speed very quickly and his patience with the puck is impressive.
He is willing to mix it up in the corners and along the wall, showing some spunk. Defensively, he
is responsible, but his area of expertise is truly in the offensive zone. He is a pass first player
and would be even more dangerous if he attacked the net more often with a shot of his own.
Elite Prospects:
An agile winger with very good puckhandling skills; his explosiveness
opens up space for himself and teammates, giving him the ablility to
create dangerous chances at top speed. All-in-all, a dangerous player
that will shock audiences with his speed and creativity.
Mark Hunter (affiliate not known):
A puck possession player that can really handle the puck, go east-west
really well. He can make plays, he can pass pucks. Good skills.
I’ve seen Timashov play a few games, and these scouting reports are pretty much spot on. Here’s my take on him:
Strengths
- good acceleration and top-end speed
- confident and adept puckhandling
- solid vision and playmaking
- overall well-rounded offensive game and offensive instincts
Weaknesses
- not overly bad defensively, but could stand to improve his play without the puck
- plays a lot to the outside and on the perimeter
- doesn’t have a great shot and doesn’t put himself in a position to use it very often
- undersized at 5″10′ (admittedly not a big deal)
I didn’t want to put this in the “weaknesses” category, but it also bares mentioning that Timashov has a solid, well-rounded offensive game. That said, he doesn’t really do anything exceptionally well that makes him really “stand out” and he doesn’t have one elite skill that helps compensate for some of his other weaknesses. Like I said, he’s well-rounded, so that’s not really a weakness. But the NHL is as good as it gets, and if Timashov hopes to make it there one day it would be a good thing if he can turn some of his “plus” attributes into something even better.
KEY NUMBERS
Here’s how Timashov’s numbers stack up against every other forward in the QMJHL this season:
As we can see, Timashov stacks up quite well. His point totals, supplemented by his top-tier assist totals, fits right in with the top echelon in the entire league.
However, as was mentioned above, Timashov’s goalscoring ability and his ability to put himself in a position to use his shot needs some work. Most of his numbers are strong, but it’s also fairly obvious looking at the numbers that he could stand to improve his goalscoring and shot rates.
Overall though, it’s easy to understand why many people think Timashov was a potential steal for the Leafs in the sense that they drafted him in the 5th round. It’s not every draft where you can get a player with scouting reports and numbers that are, for the most part, quite glowing.
Another note on Timashov: hiis PCS% after last season comes in at 14.47, meaning the PCS% tool says that, based on his historic comparables when factoring in his league, age, size, and production from last year, Timashov has a 14.47% chance at reaching 200 NHL games played. That number may seem a little low to some of you, but it’s actually good value for someone drafted in the 5th round. For reference, Leafs 2nd-rounder Jeremy Bracco currently has a 20.0 PCS% and Leafs 3rd-rounder Andrew Nielsen has an 18.06 PCS%. As we can see, Timashov isn’t too far behind them.
LOOKING AHEAD
Here’s another number on Timashov: October 1st, 1996, his birthday. But why does that matter?
Because he’s a “late” birthday (born in 1996 as opposed to 1997, which is when the majority of 2015 draftees were born), Timashov is eligible to make the jump to the pro game (the AHL) as early as the 2016-2017 season. In other words, if the Leafs saw fit to have this be Timashov’s last season in junior before making the jump to the pro game, that’s perfectly within their rights.
That makes this a big year for Timashov. It would be a big year for him regardless (every year is a big year for a developing player), but if Timashov is to make the jump to the AHL next season then he better make the most of this one. It won’t be easy topping his great numbers from 2014-2015, but that’ll be the challenge that he’s faced with.
And he’ll certainly get the chance to build on those numbers.
The likes of Anthony Duclair, Adam Erne, and Kurt Etchegary (all key cogs in the Quebec offense) will be moving on from Quebec this season, meaning Timashov is likely staring at even bigger and tougher minutes than he got this season. Really, the Quebec offense will need to flow through his hands. So this is his chance to prove that he can get it done all by himself.
As far as the international stage goes, Timashov was invited to Sweden’s U20 summer camp, meaning he’s certainly on their radar for the 2016 World Juniors this winter. It’ll be his last year of eligibility, and given his productivity last season you’d have to think he has a good chance of making the team. Fellow Leafs prospect and good friend of Timashov’s, William Nylander, is also in his last year of eligibility for the World Juniors, and depending on how things shake out for him this year, he could be joining Timashov at the tournament in Finland.
CONCLUSION
So there you have it, the full rundown on TLN’s 18th-ranked prospect. A skilled and speedy winger, Timashov has the ability and the production to merit a ranking in and around this spot on the prospect depth chart. He’s certainly got some work to do – after all, he fell to the 5th round for a reason – but there’s certainly enough there that leaves hope for the future. And if he has the big season that many are expecting of him next year, Timashov might just be ranked a lot higher than 18th when we do our next prospect rankings in 2016.
THE RANKINGS SO FAR…
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