Prospects Report | Leinonen thriving with heavier workload

Hundreds of miles away from Topias Leinonen’s hometown of Jyvaskyla, Finland was an opportunity for the then 20-year-old goaltender to get what he desired: regular hockey.

Following being drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft, Leinonen saw little playing time for the past two seasons as the backup for JYP, a team in Finland's top pro league. He played in just 12 games in 2023-24 due in part to injuries as well as his role on the team.

Mora IK, a team in Sweden’s second-division pro league HockeyAllsvenskan, offered an opportunity for Leinonen to start a new chapter. Now, he’s showing why the Sabres made him the first goaltender taken off the draft board three summers ago.

Through 21 games for Mora IK, Leinonen is 12-8-0 with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage, good for fifth and seventh place in the league among goalies, respectively. For Leinonen, a heavy workload has led to greater success.

“Going somewhere after you haven't played a lot of hockey in two seasons, the way I looked at it, the challenge was making sure you're ready, you're healthy, you're conditioned to handle playing more games,” Sabres goalie development coach Seamus Kotyk said. “That right there would have been the challenge but I'm really happy with how he's handled it.”

Leinonen’s performance has continued to improve as he’s settled into Mora. On Nov. 8, through nine games, he was 4-4-0 with a .904 save percentage and 2.40 goals-against average.

Nearly a month later on Dec. 6, he had a 1.89 GAA with a .923 save percentage, the third- and fifth-best marks in the league at the time, respectively. He’d allowed one goal on 45 shots between his last two games, including a 24-save shutout – his third of the season – against Vasteras.

Even with a slight decline in his stats since, he’s still doing better than he did with JYP’s U-20 team in the 2022-23 season, which was his last time playing 20-plus games; that year, he had a 2.72 GAA and .885 save percentage in 23 games.

“The more games you play, the more confidence you get,” Kotyk said. “How you play different scenarios and situations within a game, that’s where it's starting to improve and then at the same time, his mobility continues to get better, his athleticism gets better.

“There are so many different things that benefit from playing more games. So, this year helped him get back on track in the direction that he needed his career to go.”

He’s gotten to this spot in his career through perseverance and rising to the occasion when his name’s been called.

“There's been some bumps along the way getting where he needs to be, but regardless of whatever setback he's had, he's always continued to work and be determined,” Kotyk said. "He still needs a lot of time to get to where he has to get to but there's a lot of potential there, and I'm excited for him to be healthy playing hockey.”

Player Spotlight

Ryerson Leenders, G (Brantford, OHL)

Leenders (Round 7, 2024) had a difficult start to the year, getting traded to Brantford from Mississauga right before the OHL season started. The move forced him to find a new billet family and adjust to a new team.

“We're really happy with how he's handled the trade, the adjustment, and more so how he's performed in the last, four weeks, five weeks,” Kotyk said. “I think he's been excellent.”

As Kotyk noted, Leenders has picked it up and strung together good performances of late. In his last 11 games, he’s helped his team to a 9-1-1 record, recording a 2.42 GAA with a .917 save percentage. In his last six games, which include a five-goal loss, he’s posted a 5-1-0 record, 2.35 GAA and .931 save percentage.

“Once he got comfortable, and what I mean by comfortable is with a new team, new billets and his game really started to take off,” Kotyk said. “He sees a lot of shots every night, and he's right now finding his game. He's more consistent and what I'm really happy with is he has a chance to be the difference in every game, and that's what you want as a goalie. It keeps you sharp mentally and keeps you engaged.”

Scott Ratzlaff, G (Seattle, WHL)

Ratzlaff (Round 5, 2023), much like Leenders, has found his groove in the past several games, winning six of the last seven as Seattle fights for a playoff spot.

“They’re right in contention for the last playoff spot, so he's learning how to come to the arena and be the difference every game and fight for a playoff spot,” Kotyk said. “That's what I really like. He’s got a tough kind of mind.”

During the hot streak, Ratzlaff has carried himself well in net with a 2.37 GAA and .919 save percentage. In Seattle’s last four wins, Ratzlaff has a 1.71 GAA and a .937 save percentage for one of his best streaks of the season.

Coincidentally, these performances immediately followed the World Juniors, a tournament he made the training camp roster for, but not the final roster, despite going into the season being slotted into the starting spot.

“Halloween on, he wasn't as consistent as he probably wanted it to be and he didn’t make the World Junior team for Canada,” Kotyk said. “He was on the team last year as the third goalie. There's some adversity he’s gone through that always will make you better in the future because of learning how to handle and deal with it. I’m very proud of the commitment and the determination that he has as a person and an athlete.”