Leafs Top-40 Prospect List - #20 (maple leafs)

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Leafs Top-40 Prospect List - #20

By Mike Augello

Aug 23, 2022 • 10:37 am

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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) #35 - Ryan Chyzowski - LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #34 - Braeden Kressler - C (Flint - OHL) #33 - Nikita Grebyonkin - RW (Stalnye Lisy - MHL, Magnitogorsk - KHL) #32 - Vyacheslav Peksa - G (Ibris Kazan - MHL) #31 - Dryden McKay - G (Minnesota Duluth - NCAA) #30 - Bobby McMann - C (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #29 - Pavel Gogolev – LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto – AHL) #28 - Joe Miller – C (Chicago – USHL) #27 - Veeti Miettinen – RW (St. Cloud St. – NCAA) #26 - Brandon Lisowsky - LW (Saskatoon - WHL) #25 - Max Ellis - RW (Notre Dame - NCAA, Toronto - AHL) #24 - Axel Rindell – D (Karpat – Finland SM-Liiga) #23 - Mac Hollowell - D (Toronto – AHL) #22 - Artur Akhtyamov – G (Ak Bars Kazan – MHL/VHL/KHL) #21 - Semyon Der-Argushintsev - C (Toronto - AHL)

#20 - Curtis Douglas - C (Toronto - AHL)

The Leafs continue to scour the US College, European and CHL ranks for potential hidden gems that can be developed into useful players. After having just three picks in the 2021 Draft, Toronto looked to the free agent route to add more to their prospect pool and signed forward Curtis Doulgas to a two-year entry-level contract last March.

Unlike many of Toronto’s acquisitions, Douglas is not lacking in size at 6’9… and 248 lbs. A fourth-round pick of Dallas in 2018, the Oakville, ON native played one and a half seasons for the Barrie Colts before finishing his OHL career with the Windsor Spitfires and scoring 30 goals in 2020 before the COVID shutdown, but he was not signed to an entry-level deal by the Stars.

With the AHL on hiatus, Douglas played in Austria before returning to North America on an AHL contract with Belleville. Last season, the big center signed with Toronto on a minor-league deal, and earned an NHL deal after scoring 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 67 games, and compiling 86 penalty minutes.

“Douglas has a physical presence that compliments an untapped two-way game.… HockeyProspect.com’s Black Book said in his draft year. “His skating technique is good and he has a ton of room for growth, which gives him an opportunity to correct his glaring (first step)weakness. In the offensive end, Curtis uses his frame to move through traffic in front of the net where he can be dangerous due to his length. He’s also able to use his frame along the boards, where we have seen him correctly angle himself away from an opponent before generating scoring chances with his playmaking ability.…

Douglas has not become a speedster but has improved his skating in four years, to the point that he can keep pace in the AHL and might be able to take the next step in the near future. He has good hockey IQ, and uses his size to protect his teammates, and those factors not in abundance within the Leafs organization could hasten his path to the NHL.

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