The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t have Dmitri Ovchinnikov in North America this season. After the young forward signed his entry-level contract in February and made his AHL debut with the Toronto Marlies at the end of the year, he has now signed a new one-year deal with Sibir Novosibirsk and will transfer to the club for the upcoming season.
This loan does not cancel Ovchinnikov’s contract with the Maple Leafs, only delays his debut as a full-time member of the AHL club. The talented 20-year-old forward scored twice in his seven games with the team this spring, after rarely seeing the ice in his 17 KHL appearances.
Hopefully, he’ll be able to claw out a bigger role for his Russian club and start contributing as he has at the MHL level, where Ovchinnikov has been better than a point-per-game player the last three seasons. The fifth-round pick is under contract with the Maple Leafs for two more seasons.