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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), but the club under former GM Kyle Dubas replenished their prospect pool to provide the Leafs with young prospects. It will now be up to new GM Brad Treliving to continue that work.
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 and are 25 years old or younger:
#40 Rodion Amirov
Note: In honor of Amirov after his passing earlier this month, we will keep him on the Leafs prospect list.
#39 Ryan Chyzowski - LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #38 Dryden McKay - G (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #37 Wyatt Schingoethe – C (Western Michigan – NCAA) #36 Zach Solow - RW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #35 John Fusco – D (Dartmouth – NCAA) #34 Kalle Loponen – D (Koo Koo Kouvola/HPK – Finland SM-Liiga) #33 Noah Chadwick - D (Lethbridge - WHL) #32 Semyon Kizimov - RW (Nizhnekamsk/Yekaterinberg - KHL) #31 Max Ellis – RW (Toronto – AHL) #30 Mikko Kokkonen – D (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #29 Keith Petruzzelli - G (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL) #28 Braeden Kressler – C (Flint – OHL) #27 Hudson Malinoski – C (Brooks Bandits – AJHL) #26 Veeti Miettinen – RW (St. Cloud St.- NCAA #25 Dmitry Ovchinnikov – LW (Sibir Novosibirsk – KHL, Toronto - AHL) #24 Brandon Lisowsky – (Saskatoon – WHL) #23 Dennis Hildeby - G (Farjestad - SHL, Toronto - AHL) #22 Ryan Tverberg – C (Connecticut – NCAA, Toronto - AHL) #21 Vladislav Kara - LW (Podolsk Vityaz - KHL) #20 Semyon Der-Argushintsev - C (Toronto - AHL) #19 Nikita Grebyonkin - RW (Khabarovsk/Magnitogorsk - KHL) #18 Easton Cowan – LW (London – OHL) #17 Artur Akhtyamov – G (Neftyanik Almetievsk – VHL) #16 Vyacheslav Peksa - G (Ak-Bars Kazan - MHL/VHL/KHL) #15 Michael Koster - D (Minnesota - NCAA) #14 Ty Voit – RW (Sarnia – OHL) #13 Fraser Minten - C (Kamloops - WHL) #12 William Villeneuve – D (Toronto - AHL) #11 Alex Steeves – C (Toronto – AHL/NHL)
#10 Joe Miller – C (Harvard - NCAA)
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a dozen picks in the 2020 NHL Draft and all of the half dozen picks in the sixth and seventh round were players either bound for four years in the NCAA or a longer development track in Europe. With their third pick in the sixth round (180th overall), Toronto selected center Joe Miller.
A late 2002 birthday, Miller was the youngest draft-eligible player in the 2020 Draft and a prospect of the USHL’s Chicago Steel, who was recruited and scouted by former Toronto Marlies head coach Greg Moore. A scoring star at Blake High School in Minnesota, Miller scored 59 points (25 goals, 34 assists) in 25 games in his senior season and 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists) in 40 games with the Steel in 2021. Last year, in his second full season with Chicago, the 19-year-old averaged over a point per game, with 68 points (23 goals, 45 assists) in 62 games.
Niemelठwith another. 6-2 CBJ. pic.twitter.com/6RrysE9fnH
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 14, 2023
“(Miller) is a really underdeveloped young man, with blazing speed, can score.… Former Leafs Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley said. “Just has a lot of upside, a lot of growth his game. We just value the speed and the skill.…
Miller is on the small side (5’9…, 148 lb.), but according to the HockeyProspect.com Black Book “can overcome some of his physical attributes with his willingness to go to and navigate in the high traffic areas. He has good hands and quick stickhandling ability, and he thinks the game quickly offensively (and) can expose gaps in coverages and thread passes through tight spaces to find teammates in the offensive zone and can beat defenders one-on-one with his skill.…
Originally committed to the University of Minnesota, Miller headed to Harvard University, following in the footsteps of former Steel alum and current Leafs prospect Nick Abruzzese, and as a freshman finished fifth in scoring behind linemates Sean Farrell and Matt Coronato, with 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists) in 33 games. It is expected that Miller’s role with the Crimson will grow this season, as Farrell and Coronato have moved on to the pros.
Joe Miller (#12) completed the first regular season of his NCAA career this weekend with Harvard. Here are his goals and notable assists.
— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) February 28, 2023
Totals: 28 GP, 13 G, 24 PTS pic.twitter.com/AasA1ag8Um