Toronto Maple Leafs have their own Linus Ullmark in goaltender Artur Akhtyamov

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been looking for stability and talent at the goaltending position for several seasons. Today one of their top goalie prospects Artur Akhtyamov has confirmed he is coming to play for the Maple Leafs organization next season.

At 22 years old Artur Ahktyamov comes over to North America after a successful season split between Russia's top league the KHL and their second division the VHL. He has developed at a steady pace since being drafted in 2020 and is now drawing comparisons to a former Vezina Trophy winner.

Since the news emerged that Artur Ahktyamov is coming over to North America analysis of his game has begun. One perspective comes from hockey analytics expert Byron Bader who created a model to project players into the NHL. According to his model at the moment Artur Ahktyamov projects to be similar to Linus Ullmark.

If Linus Ullmark is the comparable that still provides a wide range of outcomes. With the Buffalo Sabres, he did not find much success and was a fringe number one goalie. Then with the Boston Bruins, he won a Vezina Trophy before being relegated to the backup. Now he heads to the Ottawa Senators after the big trade a couple of days ago.

For Artur Ahktyamov it will be interesting to see if he follows a similar career path. Despite his impressive play in the KHL the young goalie will likely start in the AHL and find his footing but could see a game or two of NHL time if he starts out well down there.

Only time will truly be able to tell if Artur Ahktyamov is the missing piece in net that the Toronto Maple Leafs have been desperately searching for.