Toronto Maple Leafs Reportedly Interested in KHL Star Maxim Shabanov

PUBLICATION

Chris Gerics
October 13, 2024 (12:02)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Toronto Maple Leafs could add another weapon to their deadly arsenal as they have been linked to KHL star Maxim Shabanov, one of the top scorers in the league.

While the Toronto Maple Leafs have a plethora of snipers, playmakers, and superstars you can never have enough in today's NHL. The amount of hockey talent spread worldwide allows teams to find a diamond in the rough in the hopes they can be the next big impact player to help them on their journey to the Stanley Cup.

So with the Maple Leafs looking to end their 56-year Cup drought, the team could look to Russia to find their next dynamic player and may have found him. According to reports, KHL star Maxim has been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs per Alexei Shevchenko through HockeyNewsHub on X:

Who is Maxim Shabanov?

Shabanov, a 24-year-old currently playing for Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL has been fantastic in his time for the club, scoring 51 goals and 49 assists in 156 games including 17 points in 14 games already through the 2024-2025 season. Having played with Chelyabinsk's team in the MHL/VHL (Russia's second-highest professional hockey league) he quickly ascended to being one of the top players in the league before graduating to the KHL, and it's because of plays like these that Shabanov is garnering so much attention:

The one downside to Shabanov at least in terms of his potential with the Maple Leafs is that he is very undersized at 5'8, 156 pounds and wouldn't necessarily fit into Craig Berube's system although his closest comparison on the team would be Nick Robertson; someone who the Maple Leafs hold in high regard so it wouldn't be shocking if Shabanov can find a spot; given he bulks up a bit and plays the way the Maple Leafs want him to.

Fellow Russian Grebenkin could be a good fit alongside Shabanov, but the connections to Toronto don't end there. He is currently teammates with Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, former Maple Leafs 3rd round pick who the team still has rights to, as well as played with Sergey Kalinin who spent time with the Marlies in 2016-2017.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a bit of a cap crunch to deal with before they go signing anyone else, however, it would do them a good service to find a way to field an offer to a top scorer in one of the biggest leagues in the world.