2024 T25U25: Artur Akhtyamov is #12

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When the Maple Leafs, under Kyle Dubas, committed to re-vamping their goalie scouting and development process, the very first goalie they drafted with this new program in mind was Artur Akhtyamov. Since then, Toronto has taken a goalie in every year's draft except for 2023, where they only had three picks. Of the four goalies Toronto has drafted since 2020, all of them have been Europeans playing in a European league. Three of the four were specifically Russian.

Before this season, the Top 25 Under 25 voters haven't been too keen on Akhtyamov, though that's common for most goalies especially when they're younger and further away. He debuted at 21st, then fell a bit to 23rd, then went unranked completely, before popping back in at 24th last year.

For Akhtyamov to cut his ranking in half, down to 12th, he must have done something good right?

Artur Akhtyamov	Vitals
Age as of July 1	22.66
Position	G
Height	6'2"
Weight (lbs)	170
Shoots	L
Draft Year	2020
Draft Number	106

The Player

Akhtyamov was taken in the fourth round in the 2020 draft, and his journey since then has involved slowly rising the ranks within the Russian hockey system. He's come to dominate the MHL, then the VHL, and in a small stint had strong looking numbers in the KHL. His problem has always been having an opportunity in the KHL to really run with a starting job. His KHL club has kept the same starter and backup pretty much since Akhtyamov was drafted.

I touched on that issue when trying to compare the progression and levels he was playing at, compared to 10 NHL goalies from Russia, back in 2023:

It took long term injuries to both of these other goalies this year for him to get a 17 game run, where he had a respectable .921 sv%. To top it off, he returned to the VHL where he led his team to the VHL championship as the playoff MVP, with a .932 sv% and a 16-5 record, beating several of the top teams in the league.

#LeafsForever prospect Artur Akhtyamov got his first career KHL win today, stopping 30 of 31 shots. He's started 3 games in a row for Ak Bars as their other goalies have been hurt, and he's improved his save percentage up to .933 for the season. Here are highlights from today: pic.twitter.com/jbR2tKxrzh
— More like Nikita GREATbyonkin (@brigstew86) October 1, 2023

So at this point, still blocked from getting a starting or even backup role in the KHL, Akhtyamov signed with Toronto. He will likely be playing on the Marlies as a 1B to Dennis Hildeby. I'm guessing that his KHL numbers, his close proximity to Toronto itself, and by extension close proximity to the NHL, are the main reasons why people believe in him more now than they did last year which was also a pretty big success.

As a goalie, the way I'd profile Akhtyamov is as a workhorse. He has been one of the most heavily used goalies in Russia since his draft year, playing a combined 238 games between regular season and playoffs, including the COVID shortened season. It doesn't seem to negatively affect his performance.

Stylistically, Akhtyamov plays a very positional style, very butterfly focused, has good vision for tracking the puck through traffic, and loves to take away the bottom of the net. He is quick and athletic, and can react well to rebounds, deflections or cross ice passes. He has good rebound control and is quick to pounce on loose pucks around him to get the whistle. He's just a solid all around goalie with no big weakness that I can tell, but also without any spectacular, elite, or standout traits. When he struggles, he is losing his positioning or getting too wild moving in his crease, over committing and not giving himself the ability to recover.

If he were 6'4" I'd say Akhtyamov would probably be considered a top goalie prospect. But he's not. He is, in fact, a slightly smaller goalie, listed as 6'1" on Elite Prospects. One complaint I've made about him in the past is that he can look small in the net at times. That's when you can tell he's a off his game. He goes down too early, focuses too much on taking away the bottom of the net and leaves a lot of room at the top of it uncovered.

#LeafsForever prospect Artur Akhtyamov stopped 32 of 36 shots he faced for the 5-4 OT win. His record improves to 2-2-1 with a .915 sv%. Not his best game but he made some tough saves. Here are some highlights: pic.twitter.com/YJjoAqjGzH
— More like Nikita GREATbyonkin (@brigstew86) October 5, 2023

The AHL will be a good test for him, especially since he'll be splitting time with Hildeby rather than being used so heavily like he's used to. It will be a much bigger level of competition for him, though his KHL performance last year on a so-so team is at least a good hint that he could be up for the challenge. It will be interesting to contrast the seasons for Akhtyamov and Hildeby, as they are two of Toronto's best and oldest goalie prospects. Funnily enough, even though Hildeby was drafted two seasons later than Akhtyamov, he's actually two months older. The Swedish giant was born August 2001, and the Russian was born October 2001. That's something to keep in mind when comparing both as prospects.

But as goalies, they are very, very different. If you're wondering why Hildeby got ranked higher, look no further than having a physical/size advantage, and the fact he has a decent full season in the AHL already under his belt.

The Votes

I personally voted Akthyamov 11th. He was the very last prospect in my tiers of players I think have at least some level of legitimacy as potential NHLers.

Here's how the others voted:

Voter	Vote
Cathy	14
Brian	11
Species	19
Adam	14
Hardev	15
dhammm	15
Cameron S	15
Hound Line	10
brysplace	8
Catch-67	13
Sclodiggity	14
shinson93	20
The Bag	8
Zone Entry	12
Weighted Average	13.43
Highest Vote	8
Lowest Vote	20

I don't think Akhtyamov will become a star or even an NHL starter, but he could make for an interesting backup or journeyman. In the end, I think his size will be too much of a disadvantage at the NHL level with the quality of shooters, passers, and offensive systems who can exploit his weaknesses. But I also think that he has so few or big weaknesses, and a good goalie brain, that he'll get a shot and could do well for a lesser role.

The Opinions

Here's what some of the other voters had to say about Akhtyamov:

dhammm: I am normally loath to rank goalies highly in an exercise like this because goalie development timelines are long and their outcomes erratic, and Akhtiamov wasn't even a full-time KHLer in this, his D+4 season. But a lot of prospects had down years to hurt their stock, and I didn't like what the Leafs did with most of their picks in the 2024 draft, and Akhtyamov had a good enough season to really bump him higher than I’d like to be ranking a goalie with his track record. He was a brick wall in the VHL and solid in the KHL, and that he is now making the jump across the Atlantic to play for the Marlies means I'll be more trusting of any good results he has this season.

shinson93: Hoping for a better debut than Peksa, but he gets a default goalie prospect slot in the 20s until I see more.

Cameron S: My opinion on Akhtyamov has gotten higher the more time that passes, never going below a 0.921 in the KHL and VHL this season, and having an amazing playoffs, I’m excited to see how he translates when he comes to the Marlies this season.

The Bag: Akhtyamov continues to excel wherever he goes. The issue with him previously (for me) has been lack of playing time in top pro leagues. At least he got significant time in the KHL last year. I’m eager to see him with the Marlies; noting that with goalies no one season can be definitive, this will be a big year.

Hound Line: In every clip I’ve seen of Akhtyamov I’ve come away impressed by his lateral quickness and how much extension he gets with his legs. He’s also pretty mobile in and around the crease, whether it’s leaving the net to play a loose puck or jockeying for position while tracking the play. He's more fluid than your average dogmatic butterfly goalie.

Cathy: I didn't really want to rank Akhtyamov this high, but I granted him some very small chance to improve to a level higher that a lot of the skaters on this list simply because those skaters aren't very good.

So what do you think? Is King Artur a worthy 1B goalie prospect in Toronto's system behind Hildeby? Or does he have an argument to being the 1A?

Here's a fun highlight to end, in part because it's Akhtyamov making a silly save against a fellow Russian Maple Leafs prospect.

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