Man of the Week: Josh Leivo
KHL.ru continues its weekly column with Josh Leivo. The forward has found himself a new home in Ufa and was awarded the Best forward honors for his last week’s performance.
The Canadian forward had a striking week last term, with eight points in just three games for Salavat Yulaev, including the OT, game-winning goal in Ufa’s win over CSKA. With Salavat Yulaev in the offensive zone, head coach Viktor Kozlov pulled his goalie as the team built an interesting play deep in CSKA’s third. The puck then moved from Nicholas Meloche to Alexander Chmelevski, who served Leivo on the right circle. The forward sent it top shelf as Salavat Yulaev celebrated a well-deserved win in Moscow. However, that wasn’t Leivo’s lone highlight of the night. Again with an empty net, late in the third period Salavat Yulaev was pushing to tie things up as CSKA got the 3:2 lead. Forward Alexander Sharov saw Leivo in front of the net with fewer than 40 seconds to the final horn as the forward put it in the back of the net past Ivan Fedotov again with a top-shelf shot to send the game to OT. To date, Leivo is his team’s fourth scorer with 25 (9+16) points, but has only played 23 games.
Early years
Josh Leivo was born in Innisfil, Ontario, on May 26, 1993, but grew up in Richmond Hill, part of the Greater Toronto Area. Growing up, Leivo played with the Barrie Colts U18 AAA team before being drafted by the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League in 2009. The forward immediately joined the Sudbury team and made an impact on their play. In his first regular season with the Wolves, Leivo accumulated 30 (13+17) points through 64 games. After the Wolves were eliminated from playoff contention, he received the teams’ Top Rookie Award and was subsequently selected 86th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
He was then up for a second year in the OHL; Leivo finished the regular season with 32 goals and 41 assists, adding two tallies and one helper in the postseason. After the Wolves were eliminated from the OHL playoffs, Leivo joined the Maple Leafs’ AHL team, the Toronto Marlies, for the 2012 Calder Cup playoffs. Following then a third season with the Wolves, with another callup to the Marlies in the closing month, Leivo then finally moved up to pro hockey.
Moving up the ranks
Leivo had a successful start of his full-time AHL career, scoring 42 (23+19) points in 59 games for the Marlies, also earning a call to the NHL, where he had his first career goal against the Carolina Hurricanes. The forward was returned to the Marlies for the 2015–16 season, the final season on his entry-level contract. This season proved to be his most productive as he set career-highs in assists and points while also being selected for the 2016 AHL All-Star Game. His excellent performance with the Marlies and his production with the Leafs as a callup for injuries granted him a new two-year contract in Toronto.
In the first year of his new contract, Leivo continued to improve on his previous season’s success despite playing fewer overall games due to an injury. He had a solid 10 (2+8) points in just 12 games for the Leafs, and he was granted another contract. However, he then failed to become a full-time player for Toronto and he was eventually traded to the Vancouver Canucks in December 2018. His production was once again decent, hitting 10 goals and 18 points in 49 games in Vancouver.
Following his stint in Vancouver, Leivo spent a season within the Calgary Flames system, then joined the Carolina Hurricanes. He only skated in seven games with the Hurricanes, then he was assigned to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Leivo enjoyed great success with the Wolves. During the post-season, the forward led all AHL players with 20 points through 13 games to help the Wolves advance to the AHL Calder Cup Finals. As the team defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds in the Finals, Leivo won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the Calder Cup Playoffs, ending the postseason with 29 (15+14) points in just 18 games. Following his success with the Wolves, Leivo was signed by the St. Louis Blues for the 2022-2023 campaign – he appeared in 51 regular season games for the Blues, producing 16 (4+12) points as a depth player. He also skated in a couple of matches for the Springfield Thunderbirds – his former opposition – in the AHL. Following this season, he moved overseas.
Move to the KHL
As a free agent from the St. Louis Blues, Leivo signed with Salavat Yulaev on Sep 15 – it was his first adventure overseas. He only had his debut in October, however, following a recover from an injury. Leivo’s first Kontinental Hockey League game was a 4:1 Salavat Yulaev win over Avtomobilist.
“I am very glad to finally join Salavat Yulaev and to win together with the team,” he said after the game. “Our goalie literally stood on his head and kept us in the game, then we scored two more goals and earned important two points. Head coach Viktor Kozlov and I just discussed the system. I joined the team not long ago, had the chance to watch video highlights before the match. Also, I discussed our strategy with Alexander Chmelevsky I think we played well together today. Of course I feel tired now, slightly sleep-deprived. But adrenaline and the support of the fans helped me. I think I will sleep very soundly tonight.”
Salavat Yulaev’s import trio is completed by Nicolas Meloche, a defenseman whom Leivo faced several times playing in the AHL and who is also at his first experience overseas. The two are having a good adaptation to their new league and country.
“Meloche and Leivo are getting used to the lifestyle, as far as I know, they have a lot of positive emotions,” Salavat Yulaev’s GM Rinat Bashirov recently told the media. “Everything is calm, good, and predictable for us; but it’s a new world for them. Understandably, there were concerns upon their arrival, but we had bridges for both import players in the form of Ryan Murphy (who played for Salavat Yulaev in the 2022-2023 season) in the case of Leivo and Chmelevsky with Meloche. They are convinced that what their friends and partners told them is true, and that everything is fine with us.”
“I think their whole season will be spent on adapting. In the playoffs, it’s a different game, and with the arrival of these guys, the team has certainly become stronger mentally. The collective has become more confident. We are pleased with their arrival.”
Leivo has currently over a point per game – there’s a lot to be pleased, and it’s likely that the forward’s importance for the team will only grow further.
