12. There’s an obvious connection for Toronto GM Kyle Dubas to be at Tuesday’s Lokomotiv/CSKA KHL game: Lokomotiv’s Yegor Korshkov, taken 31st overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2016 draft. He’s a left-shot winger, and they like his talent. Injured for a good chunk of the season and only in his fourth game back, the goal could be bringing him to training camp in September.
Toronto has also dipped into the Russian free-agent market with Igor Ozhiganov and Nikita Zaitsev, and there are two potential contenders from that game. The first is 29-year-old left-winger Sergei Andronov, who was selected by St. Louis in 2009 when current Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen was running their drafts. He spent two seasons in the AHL before returning home. The other is 22-year-old defenceman Alexander Yelesin. There is definitely interest in him.