Leafs confirmed as a frontrunner to sign 25-year-old KHL star

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a pretty lengthy history of dipping into the KHL UFA market, bringing Russian stars over to the NHL. Some examples are Igor Ozhiganov, Alexander Barabanov and Ilya Mikheyev. Obviously, some moves had worked out better than others, but given the fact that the Leafs are often involved in talks with players of this caliber coming out of Russia, it should come as no surprise that the team is pursuing yet another KHL star.

Per Maxim Tsyplakov's agent, the Toronto Maple Leafs are one of 4 teams who have the best odds of signing the 25-year-old forward at the conclusion of this KHL season.

Obviously, the Leafs have some competition here, including within their own division, as the Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings are all in the mix as well.




Tsyplakov has amassed 32 points so far this season with Spartak Moscow, including 22 goals, which has him currently sitting 5th in goal scoring in the entire KHL, behind only Pavel Poryadin (23), Kirill Pilipenko (25), Nikolai Goldobin (30), and Reid Boucher (34).

Tsyplakov has improved substantially this season, already having surpassed last year's goal and point totals by a significant margin with plenty of runway left ahead of him. In 63 games with Spartak last season, Tsyplakov registered just 10 goals and 25 points. He's currently on pace for 28 goals and 42 points this season, which is very solid production in the KHL.

For context, when Andrei Kuzmenko came over from the KHL in 2022, he was coming off of a 53-point season, albeit in 45 games. While Tsyplakov is not Kuzmenko, he's still a solid player with a significant upside.