Toronto Maple Leafs: Semyon Der-Arguchintsev could be latest draft steal

Kyle Dubas loves his small, skilled players, and in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft the Toronto Maple Leafs got a good one in Semyon Der-Arguchintsev.

It was an exciting weekend for Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Friday night saw the team picking 25th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. After that, the team possessed another seven picks on day two of the draft. However, that number would grow before the first round ended.

The Leafs traded the 25th pick to St. Louis in exchange for their 29th pick as well as a third rounder.

With that third round pick, the Leafs picked up Russian playmaker Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, who is affectionately referred to as SDA.

Der-Arguchintsev played his second full campaign in the OHL with the Peterborough Petes this past season.

The Moscow native played his minor hockey in Rockland, Ontario, which is roughly 40 minutes east of Ottawa. Throughout his minor career, he only featured in one game in Russia.

Der-Arguchintsev was selected by the Petes with the 27th overall pick in the 2016 OHL Priority Selection.

He stepped into the Petes lineup immediately and posted eight goals and 29 points in 63 games during the 2016-17 OHL season.

If you want to talk about a low-risk, high reward pick, this is the epitome of that. Der-Arguchintsev fits the bill of a Dubas-type player.

Standing at 5-foot-10 and weighing just 159 pounds, Der-Arguchintsev punches above his weight with some impressive offensive ability. Of course, he will start to add on muscle as he gets older, but all signs point to him being a very impressive talent when he puts the full package together.

On a Petes squad that finished this past season with a 23-39-3-3 record, Der-Arguchintsev was one of their stars. He tallied 12 goals and finished the season with 51 points in 68 games, which was good for third in team scoring.

Here’s what Dominic Tiano of OHL Writers had to say about Der-Arguchintsev in his player profile:

"Der-Arguchintsev is more of a playmaker than a shooter. His 9 goals come on 83 shots (10.8 percent) so it’s not like he doesn’t possess some goal scoring ability, but his low shot total suggests that he looks to make a play before he shoots himself. The eye test will draw the same conclusions. That’s not a bad thing as long as you are playing with a sniper.Adding some much-needed muscle is important for Der-Arguchintsev. He has difficulty fighting through checks, winning puck battles and the strength to get to those hard areas. But there is no doubt when given the space, he has some of the softest hands, as shown on the powerplay with the extra space.Der-Arguchintsev has excellent vision and is an extremely skilled passer. Finding lanes and making tape-to-tape passes is his bread and butter. If he can improve on his skating, he could create more space for himself and with that comes more opportunity.Shooting more will give Der-Arguchintsev another dimension to his arsenal. He doesn’t possess an overpowering or heavy shot. However, accuracy is not an issue. Adding the already mentioned muscle could also help."

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Another layer of this pick is the age of the centre. Der-Arguchintsev was born on Sept 15, 2000, which is the cutoff day for this year’s draft. As a result, he is the youngest player in the entire class at 17-years-old.

He will almost surely play another two years in the OHL, before being looked at as an option for the AHL. This will give him the ability to become a big-time contributor for the Petes and grow his overall game, before possibly making the jump to pro hockey.

There is a lot to like about the young Russian’s game. He has a play style that is easy to fall in love with. His vision and playmaking ability jump off the page and the other aspects of his game will get better with age.

It has become more and more important for teams to hit on picks outside the first two rounds. The Leafs are seeing first hand how good drafting can benefit an organization. Six of their draft picks from 2015 featured in some way with the Calder Cup champion Marlies this past season.

Der-Arguchintsev has a lot more time to spare before he’s relied on to become a key contributor in the AHL, but he is going to be a player that Toronto Maple Leafs fans will want to keep an eye on.

Next: David Levin getting a crack at Development Camp

It will be exciting to see what the future holds for this young man, who has the chance to become a real bright spot for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the future.