The Toronto Maple Leafs were rated the top organization in the NHL by ESPN this past week, with eight players ranked in the league’s top 120 prospects. Many talent evaluators believe that the club, who began an organizational transition just two years ago, has many more who could play some role in the league in the future.
The difference between teams falling short in their rebuild and Stanley Cup success stories such as the Chicago Blackhawks is getting significant contributions not only from top prospects selected at the top of the first round (Patrick Kane -1st overall, 2007 and Jonathan Toews -3rd overall, 2006), as well as lower round selections (Niklas Hjarmalsson-4th round, 2005, Markus Kruger 5th round,2009, Andrew Shaw, 5th round, 2011), undrafted free agents (Trevor van Riemsdyk) and young players acquired via trade (Patrick Sharp, acquired from PHI in 2005).
Rather than assigning a letter grade or ranking the Toronto organization’s young players, Leafs prospects will be placed in three categories.
Cornerstones – A prospect that is close to ‘can’t miss’ as one can get. Someone with the talent, size and/or mentality to be successful in the NHL right away and potentially be a franchise building block.
Contenders – A prospect that has the ability and physical tools, but needs to gain experience and physically/mentally mature over the next 1-2 years to be an effective NHLer.
Challengers – A prospect that has some abilities, but may have a deficiency in some aspect of their game besides experience and maturity that they will have to overcome to make the NHL in the near future.
*******
Auston Matthews - 1st Round/1st Overall – 2016: The Maple Leafs finally received some good fortune in winning the NHL Draft Lottery and selecting someone who most analysts believe will be a first line center, but only time will tell how good Auston Matthews can be.
The Scottsdale, AZ native benefited from playing in Switzerland against more experienced competition instead of dominating players of comparable age in the CHL or NCAA. That showed during the World Championships in Russia, where the 18-year-old more than held his own against teams with multiple NHLers.
Matthews is smart, big, talented and mature for his age. How he performs as a rookie is less important than how he develops and plays two or three years down the road when Toronto is better positioned to contend.
Rating - Cornerstone
Andrew Nielsen – 3rd Round/65th Overall – 2015: Another product of the 2015 NHL Draft, Nielsen was selected as an overager because of his size and nasty on-ice disposition. His offense showed up in his third WHL season, as the Red Deer, Alberta native finished in the top five scoring CHL blueliners.
The 19-year-old got a brief five-game stint with the Marlies at the end of the regular season and along with Travis Dermott will be given a great deal of responsibility in his first professional season. Nielsen’s size (6’3” 207 lbs) may give him an advantage over many of the smaller defensive prospects in the organization.
Rating – Contender
William Nylander – 1st Round/8th Overall – 2014: A second generation NHLer with all of the tools necessary to be a success, Nylander lead the AHL in scoring prior to departing for the World Junior, but his season got temporarily derailed by a concussion and a bout of appendicitis.
After nearly a month out of action, Nylander returned and was called up to the NHL after the trade deadline, scoring six goals and seven assists in 22 games.
In spite of impressive offensive production during the Calder Cup Playoffs, Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe did question be 20-year-old’s effort at times during the postseason, which is something that will have to be diligently monitored by Mike Babcock.
Rating – Cornerstone
JJ Piccinich – 4th Round/103rd Overall – 2014: Piccinich abandoned the NCAA path after one season with Boston University and had a successful rookie season with the Memorial Cup winning London Knights, scoring 30 goals and 36 assists.
The Paramus, NJ is old enough to play in the AHL but has not signed a professional contract and will likely remain in London for another season. Piccinich projects as a two-way forward and needs to work on his skating to improve his chances at a professional career.
Rating – Challenger
Nikita Soshnikov – Free Agent/(KHL) Moscow Oblast Atlant – 2015: A product of the Maple Leafs emphasis on European scouting, Soshnikov was plucked from the KHL as an undrafted free agent and did not need much time to become acclimated to hockey in North America.
The 22-year-old Russian does not shy away from the dirty areas and has the skating and defensive ability to be an effective checking forward. Soshnikov earned the praises of Leafs head coach Mike Babcock when recalled in March and the only concern going forward could be his durability.
Rating – Contender
Dmytro Timashov – 5th Round/125th Overall – 2015: Toronto knew that the speedy Timashov had talent, but that the rest of the hockey world saw that first hand at the 2016 World Junior, when he picked up the scoring slack for Team Sweden created by the injury to teammate William Nylander.
The Swedish/Ukrainian winger rebounded from of sluggish second half after being traded from Quebec to Shawinigan with a strong 28-point performance in the QMJHL Playoffs and with a sizable group graduating from the Marlies to the Leafs, Timashov should get a prime spot on a scoring line.
Rating - Contender
Dominic Toninato – 5th Round/126th Overall -2012: Toninato maintained his scoring prowess in his junior year at Minnesota-Duluth, leading the Bulldogs with 15 goals. The 6’2” 190 lb forward indicated at the Rookie Development Camp in July that he would be returning to UMD for his senior season.
With the focus turning towards adding size in the most recent NHL draft, Toronto may have plans for the 22-year-old, but if Toninato has a breakout senior season, it could lead to him going the free agent route same as Jimmy Vesey.
Rating – Challenger
Rinat Valiev – 3rd Round/68th Overall – 2014: Valiev made the transition to the AHL fairly smoothly after two seasons in the WHL, registering 23 points in his rookie season with the Marlies. The Russian defenseman’s offensive game deserted him when he was called up to the Leafs in March, as he went scoreless in 10 games and went without a point in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The 21-year-old will be in the mix for a spot on the Leafs blueline at training camp, but Valiev can still go down to the AHL without having to clear waivers, which gives Toronto management a fallback position if they want to give a non-waiver exempt defenseman a longer look.
Rating – Challenger
Nikita Zaitsev – Free Agent/(KHL) CSKA Moscow – 2016 : After nearly a year of speculation, the Maple Leafs signed the seven-year KHL veteran to a one-year entry level contract.
Zaitsev was named a KHL first-team all-star in 2014-15, one of the top two defensemen at the World Championships in Russia and will play on Team Russia at the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. The 6'2", 196 lb blueliner is penciled in to the Leafs top four, but may get a crack at playing with Morgan Rielly on the club’s top pairing.
Rating - Contender
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
Note : Continue to check back to my column on Hockeybuzz throughout the day for the latest Leafs updates or on Twitter
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information
click here.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»