Rodion Amirov was a son, a brother and a friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s unfathomable to try and quantify how much was lost when the 21-year-old\u2019s battle with brain cancer ended Monday before even contemplating how far his hockey talents could otherwise have taken him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amirov was a 2020 first-round draft pick of the Maple Leafs who didn\u2019t get the opportunity to follow appearances for Russia at the world junior championship and Karjala Cup with a professional career in North America because that was snatched away from him by cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it was in the way he handled his diagnosis that Amirov showed the current-day Leafs and broader hockey world how much strength and spirit he possessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was highlighted in the death announcement made by agent Dan Milstein, who wrote Monday that Amirov \u201crefused to speak in the negative, determined to enjoy every day [while] facing it with the same positive attitude he showed during his hockey career\u201d and it was echoed in the thoughts of former Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am so sad for the loss of such a wonderful young man with so much potential,\u201d said Dubas. \u201cHis unabashed positivity \u2013 even when faced with an awful diagnosis \u2013 will stay with me forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRodion was such an example of courage and I am certain that his spirit has touched and will live on in everyone lucky enough to have known him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dubas selected Amirov with the 15th overall pick during a draft conducted remotely in October 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The teenager had spent that KHL season competing against men for Salavat Yulaev Ufa and was considered a high-ceiling selection who would require a couple more years of seasoning before challenging for a NHL job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, when Amirov signed his entry-level contract with the Leafs, team management and his agent tabbed the 2023-24 season as the first where he\u2019d play full time in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was before everything got put on hold by the discovery of a brain tumour in late January 2022. Amirov had been treated for a collarbone injury and concussion that season when doctors noticed some abnormalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further tests delivered the worst diagnosis possible \u2013 although Amirov didn\u2019t treat it that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n