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The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Pierre Engvall, and Justin Holl), but the club under GM Kyle Dubas has to keep replenishing the prospect pool to provide the Leafs with youngsters who can step up and replace veterans who retire, depart via free agency or are traded.
As we did last year, we will rank the club’s top prospects over the upcoming weeks based on their progress in either the NCAA, CHL, Europe, ECHL or AHL and their potential to make the Leafs roster and make a contribution in the future.
Players are eligible for the list if they have not played more than 40 NHL games:
#40 - Vladislav Kara – LW (Yugra - VHL) #39 – Kalle Loponen – D (Koo Koo Kouvola/JyP HT – Finland SM-Liiga) #38 - Jeremy McKenna – RW (Wichita – ECHL, Toronto – AHL) #37 - John Fusco – D (Harvard – NCAA)
#36 Noel Hoefenmayer – D (Newfoundland – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
The Maple Leafs under Kyle Dubas has been more proactive at giving developmental projects time and opportunity. Toronto has added undrafted free agents from Europe, US colleges, and the CHL, which has resulted in bringing in players like Ilya Mikheyev, Trevor Moore, and Mason Marchment. They have also benefited from giving unsigned draft picks from other organizations a second chance, like former Chicago second-round pick Justin Holl.
Noel Hoefenmayer has consistently been underestimated. The blueliner fell to the fourth round (108th overall) at the 2017 NHL Draft, but went unsigned by the Arizona Coyotes.
After re-entering the draft in 2019 and not being selected, the North York, ON native led all OHL defensemen with a career-high 82 points (26 goals, 56 assists) in 58 games with the Ottawa 67’s this season and won the Max Kaminsky Trophy (the OHL’s Most Outstanding Defenseman of the year).
Today's #AMIce is a mighty power-play blast from @noelhoefenmayer of the @Wichita_Thunder. It was one of three power-play goals by WIC during Wednesday night's 5-2 win over the @FWKomets. The Thunder's victory tied the best-of-5 #KellyCupPlayoffs21 series at 1-1. pic.twitter.com/7iebtpvKlm
— ECHL Week (@ECHLWeek) June 10, 2021
Hoefenmayer’s offensive skills have never been in question, but over the last three years, he has improved his strength, skating, and defense, prompting the Leafs to sign him to a two-year AHL contract.
With the Newfoundland Growlers not playing because of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, Hoefenmayer played with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder and registered 10 points in 23 games. He then graduated to the Marlies when the AHL got underway and scored six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in 18 games, but was sent back to Kansas to play for the Thunder in the playoffs.
With the Growlers resuming a full schedule, Hoefenmayer played major minutes and had 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) in 46 games, and played eight games with the Marlies, earning a second AHL contract.
The North York, ON native has shown improvement in his game and will likely play regularly with the Marlies transitioning to a young blueline group, but at 23 he will have to make a major step forward to earn an NHL deal and eventually get to the show in the next few years.
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