Toronto Maple Leafs 2015-16 Prospect Tracker: January 10

Notes:

• Dmytro Timashov‘s trade to Shawinigan went through following the World Juniors, and he registered four assists in his first game in a Cataractes jersey followed by three-point game on Sunday (1g,2a). On Sunday he played with Lightning third-round pick Dennis Yan and Shawnigan’s other new high-profile acquisition, Danny Moynihan (undrafted 20yo). Timashov is up to 60 points in 31 games, good for ninth in QMJHL scoring despite playing 5-10 fewer games than the rest of the top 10 scorers (he’s second in points per game).
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• Lethbridge’s Andrew Nielsen massive plus-one season continues, as he leads WHL defencemen in scoring with 46 points in 42 games. That’s good enough for 20th in overall scoring in the WHL as well. The 6’3 rearguard is a plus-26 along with 74 penalty minutes. Lethbridge leads the WHL Eastern Conference with a 32-12-0 record.
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• Nikita Soshnikov‘s 11 goals have all come at even strength or while shorthanded. Remove powerplay goals from the equation, and Soshnikov is the Marlies‘ goals co-leader alongside William Nylander. Interesting quote from Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe on Soshnikov, courtesy of Kyle Cicerella:
  

  “One of the things with him, we found that when we’ve moved him north in the line up and put him with top point getters, he’s lost his game a little bit. We find he’s more effective on the lower lines, playing hard minutes, being hard on the forecheck. Higher in the line up, whether he doesn’t touch the puck enough or he looks to move the puck a lot more to other people, it affects his game a little.”

• Jeremy Bracco has 18 points in 11 games since the World Junior snub by USA Hockey, a stretch that includes six multi-point games.
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• Mitch Marner has three points in two games (2g,1a) since returning from the World Juniors.
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• Nikita Korostelev is underachieving offensively with 26 points in 36 games, a step back from last season’s .97 points-per-game mark. His December showed some signs of improvement, however, with nine points in nine games after just four in 11 games in the month of November.
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• Andreas Johnson scored twice and added an assist in a 6-0 Frolunda win over Farjestad on Saturday. He’s eighth in SHL scoring with 28 points in 32 games.
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• Injury notes: Garret Sparks is just short of the 660 minutes required to qualify for the AHL leaderboard, but would be second in the AHL in save percentage with a .938. Unfortunately, he remains on the shelf with a lower-body injury. University of Maine forward Nolan Vesey — struggling in his sophomore season on a poor Black Bears team — hasn’t played in his team’s last two games. Marlies defenceman Rinat Valiev is considered day-to-day. The William Nylander situation remains shrouded in mystery as head injuries often are, but Damien Cox, on HNIC last night, suggested the injury could keep him out a full month. Connor Brown is practicing and nearing a return, but the Marlies are making sure to be patient with his recovery from a broken foot.