Leafs Prospect Update – Part I (maple leafs)

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Leafs Prospect Update – Part I

By Mike Augello

Dec 25, 2016 • 8:27 pm

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With four Maple Leafs prospects playing in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Tournament in Toronto and Montreal, it is a good time to check on the progress of the club’s prospects currently playing in the OHL, QMJHL, WHL, NCAA and Europe:

2016 Draft

The big Russian winger was having a good rookie campaign with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (six goals, 12 assists in 35 games), but suffered a broken leg in early December. The 20-year-old is expected to be out until late January.

After not scoring in his first nine games, Grundstrom is tied for second in SHL scoring with 11 goals. The 19-year-old winger was named an alternate captain for Team Sweden for the upcoming WJC and scored the game winner in a pre-tournament game vs Slovakia on December 19.

The 18-year-old Woll (selected 62nd overall by the Maple Leafs) is 10-6-1 in his freshman season at Boston College and registered a shutout in a 4-0 pre-tournament victory over the Czechs on Friday. The shutout must have been a determining factor for the hierarchy of USA Hockey, as they chose to keep three goalies for the upcoming WJC.

Greenway is a product of the US National Development Program and after starting with four points in four games as a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, the 18-year-old defenseman has gone pointless in the last 12.

Brooks is second behind teammate Sam Steel (Anaheim’s 2016 first rounder selected with the pick traded for Frederik Andersen) in WHL scoring with 53 points. The 20-year-old scored a hat trick and added two assists against Moose Jaw on December 17 and the Pats are currently the top ranked team in the CHL with a 20-2-4-0 record.

Symbolic of the Leafs emphasis on size in the 2016 Draft, the 6’5…, 235 lb Middleton managed just seven points in 66 games with Saginaw last season and has already eclipsed those totals in just 29 games this season with the Spirit.

Bobylev signed with Moscow Spartak over the summer, but received only limited ice time with the KHL club and had only two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in 20 games. The 19-year-old winger returned to the WHL’s Victoria Royals and registered two assists in three games before the Christmas break.

The speedy Walker is second on the Royals with 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) in 34 games and has scored 13 points in the last seven games, including a three assist outing against Portland on December 14.

A big defenseman with a large wingspan, Mattinen played only 39 games for the Memorial Cup winning London Knights and has played 30 of the Knights 32 games this season, but has only two assists thus far.

Selected 182nd overall, the 6’3…, 209 lb winger earned a promotion after scoring 10 goals in 12 games HC MVD Balashikha and was called up to play for Moscow Dynamo. The 19-year-old has gone pointless in four KHL games.

Part II of Prospect Update on Monday

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