| Birth Date: | 2002 3, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Oulu, Finland |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 0 |
| Weight Lbs: | 170 |
| Position: | Defence |
| Shoots: | Right |
| League: | NHL |
| Team: | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Prospect League: | AHL |
| Prospect Team: | Toronto Marlies |
| Former Teams: | Oulun Kärpät |
| Draft: | 64th overall |
| Draft Year: | 2020 |
| Draft Team: | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Career Start: | 2019 |
Topi Niemelä (born 25 March 2002) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL).[1] Niemelä was drafted 64th overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, ranking within the top ten of European skaters.[2] [3]
Following a break out year in the Liiga with Oulun Kärpät during 2021–22 season, Niemelä was signed to a future three-year, entry-level contract with draft club, the Toronto Maple Leafs, on 13 May 2022.[4] Niemelä returned to Oulun Kärpät for the 2022–23 season and appeared in 58 games, scoring 8 goals and 18 points. At the end of the season, he joined the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.[5] Niemelä attended the Maple Leafs' 2023 training camp, but was assigned to the Marlies to start the 2023–24 season.[6]
At the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Niemelä led all defensemen in points, accumulating two goals and six assists on the way to winning the bronze medal with Team Finland.[7] [8] After the end of the tournament, he was named Best Defenceman by the IIHF Directorate.[9] He joined Team Finland again for the 2022 edition of the tournament. The team reached the gold medal game this time, playing against Team Canada, and Niemelä played a pivotal role in the game's most famous moment, when his potentially game-winning shot into a wide open Canadian net was knocked out of midair by Canadian captain Mason McTavish, preventing Finnish victory. The Finns won the silver medal.[10]
| Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | League | GP | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||||||
| 2018–19 | Jr. A | 39 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |||
| 2019–20 | Oulun Kärpät | 43 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2019–20 | Oulun Kärpät | Jr. A | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Oulun Kärpät | Liiga | 15 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Oulun Kärpät | Jr. A | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Oulun Kärpät | Liiga | 48 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | Oulun Kärpät | Liiga | 58 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2022–23 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Toronto Marlies | AHL | 68 | 8 | 31 | 39 | 43 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Liiga totals | 164 | 19 | 42 | 61 | 42 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Finland | U17 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2019 | Finland | U18 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | Finland | HG18 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | Finland | WJC | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 2022 | Finland | WJC | 7 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | ||
| Junior totals | 28 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 10 | ||||