Dec 2: Semyonov has cleared waivers and will see his contract terminated. Yesterday, Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe explained that the forward expressed a desire to return to the KHL on the way back from the team’s latest road trip.
Dec 1: The Kirill Semyonov experiment in Toronto is coming to an end, as the Russian forward has been placed on unconditional waivers. Semyonov will see his contract terminated, making him a free agent that can sign with a new NHL team or return to the KHL.
Semyonov, 27, signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs this season, expecting to be in the mix for the bottom-six after a long, successful career in the KHL. The undrafted forward hit a career-high of 46 points in 62 games during the 2019-20 season and won a Gagarin Cup championship in 2021. When he arrived it seemed to be going well, with a strong showing in the preseason for Toronto. Still, he ended up in the minors to start the year, where he played nine games and put up nine points.
Recently, Semyonov had been recalled to the main roster but with the addition of veteran forward Kyle Clifford, even the spare roster spot was going to be difficult to secure. Now, after being sent down yesterday in favor of Joey Anderson, Semyonov is on waivers and will leave the organization entirely.
It will be interesting to see whether he tries to catch on with another NHL team at some point, or if Semyonov’s NHL story ends after just three games. He failed to score a point in any of those and will leave the Maple Leafs still waiting for his first NHL goal. When terminated, the contract will come completely off the books for Toronto.
so, um, do the Maple Leafs know that guys coming over from the KHL actually want to play rather than ride the bus between the parent club and the Marlies?
@DarkSide830 – There you go again, spilling the dirty little secret that practically defines the Leafs organization! “Promise the moon, but deliver a crap sandwich.”
I think it’s actually more like hey will give you a legit look if we don’t think things will work out we will either trade or release you. It’s what they’ve done every year when these guys don’t work out.
@bigdaddyt – Except, that TOR’s definition of “legit look” doesn’t really match anybody else’s.
Ya a couple games on 4th line minutes and a opportunity to then get traded to a bottom 5 team to play top 9 minutes see Barabanov with the sharks timishov with Detroit. For most part the guys aren’t good and don’t stick around for more than a year or 2 on other teams before heading back to the KHL. Don’t think that kinda thing is gonna stop players from signing here, plus usually they get more from leafs to play for Marlies then most other teams would be willing to give them
Its a voluntary decision to sign a contract with a team. One would think that players evaluate their options with a given team. What all the ozhiganovs/barabanovs/semyonovs think coming over and signing with stacked Toronto is dark matter.
Another Russian prospect moving on from the Leafs. What’s the proble. Bad scouting,no communication with player. Some of these guys showed potential. While Leafs kept other fringe N.Amer and other Europeans around longer. Cup of coffee list: Nikita Soshnikov
Nikita Zaitsev
Igor Ozhiganov
Ilya Mikheyev
Alexander Barabanov
Egor Korshkov
Dmytro Timashov
Kirill Semyonov
Wasnt always the case Antropov, Mironov, Uncle Leo stuck around for a few Leaf years.
Your list is terrible, Ozhiganov was given top 4 minutes and couldn’t handle it was traded for nothing. Zaitsev was only traded because he had a bad contract not due to poor play, Korshkov was a draft pick which fail all the time and Mikheyev is still with the team and has been given every opportunity to get top 6 minutes but either can’t stay healthy between his major wrist laceration and his injury this year and has shown he can’t finish yet when he returns to the lineup there’s talks of having him play with matthews and Marner
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Timashov is not russian