Whatever Happened to Maple Leafs Prospect Topi Niemelä?
Toronto Maple Leafs fans will remember Topi Niemelä. A few years ago, he looked like he might grow into a real piece of the Maple Leafs’ blue line down the road. Smooth puck mover, smart with the puck, good instincts offensively — the kind of prospect fans kept an eye on because he always seemed to be trending in the right direction.
Niemelä has returned to Sweden to sign a one-year contract with IF Björklöven.
Well, now he’s heading back to Sweden after signing a one-year deal with IF Björklöven, who were recently promoted to the SHL. At 24 years old, Niemelä’s hockey path has started to twist around a little bit. Since Toronto drafted him in the third round back in 2020, he’s had some really encouraging stretches — first in Finland, then later with the Toronto Marlies — but he’s also had seasons where things just never quite grabbed hold the way people hoped they would.
Last season with Malmö in Sweden, Niemelä finished with four goals and 18 points in 52 games. Respectable numbers for a defenceman, but probably not the kind of season that suddenly forces NHL teams to start making plans around you. That followed an up-and-down few years statistically.
Back in Finland, he once put up 32 points in 48 games and looked like he might be breaking through offensively. Then the numbers dipped. Then came a pretty solid Marlies season in 2023-24 when he posted 39 points in 68 games. Since then, though, things have flattened out a little.
Niemelä has suffered from inconsistency over the seasons.
That’s his story more than anything else: consistency. The skill has been there. He moves the puck well, sees the ice, and can help push play up the rink. Modern NHL teams prize defencemen who can do that. But when the offence slows down, the rest of your game comes under a brighter spotlight, and that’s usually where players either take the next step or start drifting into “good European pro” territory.
Still, this move to Björklöven actually makes a lot of sense for him. A newly promoted SHL team usually means a bigger chance with more power-play time and more responsibility overall. Instead of fighting for scraps lower in a lineup, Niemelä should have a real chance to play an important role and get his confidence back. Sometimes players need that reset more than anything else.
Niemelä's probably still trying to get back to the NHL.
And the important thing is that this probably isn’t the end of the NHL dream for him. The Maple Leafs still hold his rights, and a strong season in Sweden can get people paying attention again. We’ve seen players take the long road before.
So, Niemelä hasn’t disappeared. His development path just hasn’t been as straight as people once expected. Now he gets a chance to reset things a little, play big minutes again, and see if there’s another chapter left in his NHL story.