With Injuries to the Maple Leafs' Blueline and 13 Points in 19 Games, Marlies Defender Topi Niemelä Deserves a look in the NHL

The revolving carousel of defenders on the mid to bottom six for the Toronto Maple Leafs continues as the team navigates a litany of injuries on the back end.

John Klingberg's woeful season ended when the Swede was placed on LTIR (hip) last month, with veteran Mark Giordano (broken finger), Timothy Lilijgren (ankle), and William Lagesson (illness), all missing from the blue line as the Buds barrel into the holiday break.

Three of the top six - Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, and Jake McCabe - are largely solidified, but after that, all bets are off and the next-man-up mentality could bolster the next great AHL call-up to big-city superstardom.

Enter 21-year-old Finn Topi Niemelä, who has done more than enough with the Marlies to warrant his NHL debut this season. 

Niemelä, a third-round draft pick from 2020, has been solid in the AHL through 19 games, putting up three goals and thirteen points with a plus-two and a power play marker to his credit. Five of those fifteen points have come in the past five games. 

Through 25 games with the Marlies across two seasons, Niemelä has amassed 15 points, with another five in seven games during Toronto's Calder Cup run. 

Niemelä, who has put up 14 points through 14 games in back-to-back World Junior Tournaments with Finland, could feasibly slide into a bottom-pairing role that has seen a rotating cast of characters in recent weeks.

Conor Timmins (7 GP, 2 P), Simon Benoit (11 GP, 0 P), and Max Lajoie (3 GP, 0 P), have all seen time amidst the wave of Leafs' injuries.

It feels like a matter of when and not if Niemelä receives a call to the big show.