The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Pierre Engvall, Travis Dermott and Justin Holl, but the next step for the club under GM Kyle Dubas is 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 next few 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 - Jeremy McKenna – RW (Wichita – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#39 - Ryan Tverberg – C (Connecticut – NCAA)
#38 – Ryan O’Connell – D (Ohio State – NCAA)
#37 - Semyon Kizimov – RW (Lada Togliatti – VHL / Torpedo – KHL)
#36 – Wyatt Schingoethe – C (Waterloo – USHL)
#35 - Kalle Loponen – D (Karpat – Finland SM-Liiga)
#34 - Vladislav Kara – LW (Cherepovets Severstal/Moscow Spartak – KHL)
#33 - Kirill Semyonov – C (Avangard Omsk – KHL)
#32 - William Villeneuve – D (Saint John – QMJHL, Toronto - AHL)
#31 - Ty Voit – LW (Sarnia – OHL)
#30 – Joe Miller – C (Chicago – USHL)
#29 - Brennan Menell – D (Minsk Dynamo – KHL)
#28 - John Fusco – D (Harvard – NCAA)
#27 - Axel Rindell – D (Jukurit – Finland SM-Liiga)
#26 - Noel Hoefenmayer – D (Toronto - AHL)
#25 - Alex Steeves – C (Notre Dame – NCAA)
#24 – Teemu Kivihalme - D (Toronto - AHL)
#23 – Kristians Rubins - D (Toronto - AHL / Frederikshavn - Denmark)
#22 – Ian Scott – G (Toronto - AHL)
#21 – Veeti Miettinen – RW (St. Cloud St. – NCAA)
#20 – Artur Akhtyamov – G (Ak Bars Kazan – MHL/VHL/KHL)
#19 – Filip Kral - D (Kometa Brno – Czech, Toronto - AHL)
#18 - Joseph Duszak - D (Toronto - AHL)
#17 – Mac Hollowell - D (Toronto – AHL / TuTo Turku – Finland Mestis)
#16 – Semyon Der-Argushintsev - C (Torpedo – KHL, Toronto - AHL)
#15 – Pavel Gogolev – LW (Vasby IK – Swe-1, Toronto – AHL)
#14 - Pontus Holmberg – LW (Vaxjo HC – SHL)
#13 – Mikko Kokkonen – D (Jukurit Mikkeli – Finland SM-Liiga, Toronto - AHL)
#12 – Joseph Woll – G (Toronto – AHL)
#11 - Dmitry Ovchinnikov – F (Sibir Novosibirsk – MHL/KHL)
#10 - Mikhail Abramov – C (Victoriaville – QMJHL)
#9 – Adam Brooks – C (Toronto – AHL/NHL) (claimed by Montreal)
#8 - Roni Hirvonen – C (Assat Pori – Finland SM-Liiga)
#7 - Timothy Liljegren – D (Toronto – AHL/NHL)
#6 - Matthew Knies – LW (Tri-City – USHL)
#5 – Nick Abruzzese - C (Harvard - NCAA)
#4 - Topi Niemela – D (Karpat – Finland SM-Liiga)
#3 – Rodion Amirov – LW (Ufa Salavat – KHL)
#2 - Nick Robertson - LW (Toronto – AHL/NHL)
The Toronto Maple Leafs once again displayed their penchant under GM Kyle Dubas for recognizing players with a high level of skill at the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver, when they selected Peterborough Petes winger Nick Robertson late in the second round.
The Leafs did not have a first round pick after trading it to the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Jake Muzzin, and used their top pick at #53 overall to select one of the youngest players available in the 2019 draft class.
The younger brother of Dallas Stars Calder Trophy nominee Jason was a junior teammate of 2018 draftee Semyon Der-Argushintsev with the Petes.
Robertson is extremely skilled, an excellent passer, and is adept at creating offensive chances at one end and harassing attacking players at the other. As a 17-year-old, he scored over a point per game (27 goals, 28 assists) in 54 games and exploded last season, leading the OHL with 55 goals, making an impression with a five-point performance for Team USA at the 2020 IIHF World Junior, and capping off a great year playing four games in the Stanley Cup play-in round vs. Columbus.
The 20-year-old would normally have been relegated to playing another year in junior last season, but with the OHL shutdown, Robertson had the benefit of playing against older professionals at two levels, scoring 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 21 games for the Marlies and six NHL games for the Leafs.
The concerns and questions with Robertson are his size, durability, and skating ability. Robertson has shown flashes of being a player that could be an effective scorer in the NHL, but he appears to be easy to knock off the puck, but those concerns were less apparent at the American Hockey League level.
The 5’9”, 164 forward was injured in his first game last season against the Ottawa Senators, and this year after not making the Leafs out of training camp, suffered a broken leg in his second AHL game.
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The Leafs will be looking to continue their road winning streak on Friday against the San Jose Sharks. Toronto has won five games in a row on the road and are currently second in the Atlantic with a 14-6-1 record, while San Jose is 5th in the Pacific with a 10-8-1 record.
Joseph Woll will make his third NHL start, coming off a shutout effort in New York on Saturday. David Kampf, who left in the first period on Wednesday after getting hit in the head by Kings forward Rasmus Kupari, practiced on Thursday and could return to the lineup on Friday.
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