Early in the fifth round, the Leafs selected Dmytro Timashov, one of the QMJHL's highest scoring forwards.
Timashov was my 44th ranked prospect in my final top 60 ranking with McKeen's Hockey.
Here's an excerpt I wrote from a story with McKeen's Hockey on Timashov and how he's proved his diminutive size isn't a concern (February, 24):
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.
With Modo J20, prior to joining the Remparts, Timashov was a teammate of fellow Leafs draftee Jesper Lindgren in 2013-2014
And here's a more recent blurb from my feature in the annual McKeen's Hockey NHL Draft Guide:
As the year progressed, Timashov also added considerable weight to his frame, opening up opportunities for him to create more effectively on than cycle with his elusiveness, rather than producing more of his opportunities off the rush.
This season, what was most impressive about Timashov's campaign was his ability to score at even strength. Timashov finished first among all QMJHL-bred draft prospects in even strength points per game this season (0.97), besting Timo Meier and Evgeny Svechnikov with an astonishing 64 even strength points, 12 more than his closest counterpart.
