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)
#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)
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had success in selecting Swedes in the late rounds, picking Carl Gunnarsson 194th overall in 2007, Andreas Johnsson 202nd overall in 2013, and Pierre Engvall 188th overall in 2014.
In 2018, Toronto followed a recent trend of selecting overagers, swapping sixth round picks with Buffalo to select Swedish winger Pontus Holmberg. The 5’11” forward split time between junior and the lower tier Hockeyettan in his draft year, but was elevated for two SHL games with Vaxjo.
Holmberg played all of his sophomore season with the Lakers, scoring 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists) in 47 games and earned a spot on Team Sweden for the 2019 World Junior in Vancouver after a good showing at the Four Nations tournament.
In his second full season, he upped his totals to 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists) in 52 games and led Vaxjo in plus/minus (+18). Last season, the 22-year-old set a career-high with 23 points (9 goals, 14 assists) in 45 games and led his club to an SHL Championship with 7 goals in 14 playoff games. His performance earned the winger a two-year entry-level contract with the Leafs.
Holmberg has adequate speed, but makes up for that with offensive skills and a high hockey IQ. He has been loaned to Vaxjo for the 2021-22 season, but could come over to play with the AHL Marlies once the SHL season is complete.
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The Leafs did not come out of the pre-season unscathed on the injury front, as winger Ilya Mikheyev suffered a hand injury in the 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. The big winger appeared to be a lock to start the season on the left side with John Tavares and William Nylander, but now will start the season on injured reserve or LTIR.
Mikheyev was not on the ice for practice at the Ford Performance Centre on Monday. Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated after the game that the expectation was that he would be out long-term, but the extent of the injury has not been confirmed by the club.
Toronto still has cuts to make to get down under the cap and at or below the 23-man roster limit. It was thought that the club would be saved from making a painful choice after the injury, but the Leafs placed Adam Brooks on waivers on Sunday and will find out if he has cleared or is claimed at 2pm.
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