Maple Leafs return SDA to the Petes
Arrival just in time after Petes lost Nick Robertson, John Parker-Jones to injuries
With an NHL contract in hand and experience gained alongside some Toronto Maple Leafs superstars, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev returned to the Peterborough Petes on Wednesday afternoon.
His return is welcomed as the Petes learned earlier in the day they’ll be without Nick Robertson for at least a couple of week with strained tendons in his wrist.
John Parker-Jones will also miss this weekend, and potentially longer, with a hand injury suffered blocking a shot Sunday in Ottawa.
Der-Arguchintsev will suit up against the Niagara IceDogs at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at the PMC.
Der-Arguchintsev got into his first NHL exhibition game Friday in Buffalo and spent three weeks with Toronto living with Leafs defenceman Nikita Zaitsev.
Zaitsev played junior with Der-Arguchintsev’s older brother in Russia.
“It was nice to know someone at the camp,” said Der-Arguchintsev. “I lived with him so that was pretty cool. He took care of me a lot. I felt pretty comfortable. I’ve known him since I was a kid.”
Practising with players including Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner was an experience he won’t forget.
“Auston Matthews is so good with the stickhandling and good at everything. You try to learn as much as you can from guys like him and Marner,” he said.
“It was a great experience for me to stay so long there. It was so nice to play in a game. That was my goal, to play in an exhibition game. I learned a lot on and off the ice.”
The Leafs’ third-round selection in June’s NHL Entry Draft, Der-Arguchintsev did enough to earn a three-year entry level NHL contract.
“I appreciate it a lot that they gave me a contract. The goal was obviously to sign and it’s nice to sign so early so I can just focus on hockey now and getting better. That’s my goal this year,” he said. “You can focus on hockey and not have to worry about the contract and just work on getting better.”
Petes head coach Rob Wilson is happy to have SDA back.
“He’s probably our most talented offensive player,” Wilson said.
“He’s had a great camp in Toronto and got signed. They’re seeing a lot of great things from him and that’s nothing new for people around here.
“It’s really important for us moving forward just getting our team together and moving In the right direction. He has some catch-up to do for what we’re doing. I’m looking forward to getting him here.”
He arrived too late for practice on Wednesday but Wilson said he’ll likely start with Pavel Gogolev on one wing and rookie Cameron Butler, who scored his first OHL goal on Sunday, on the right side.
The lines may get moved around with Robertson sidelined.
Der-Arguchintsev gained confidence playing the pre-season game.
“I felt comfortable out there and felt like I can play there, not this year but later I can play in that league. Obviously, you have to work a lot off the ice to get there,” he said. “I saw how hard the guys work in the NHL. I’m going to try to continue to do that in the OHL.”
He returns to the Petes understanding he has lots to improve.
“My goal is to get better defensively here and hopefully I can score goals this year, too,” he said.
He kept a close eye on his teammates while in Toronto and was pleased to see them start with two wins.
“I was happy for the guys and I’m excited to get things going here, too,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep winning.”