The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect pool is thin as far as players who might actually see a regular role in the NHL anytime soon.
There are two legitimate potential NHL regulars on this list, but after that you start to get into a reaching competition for players who may make it to the show and have a successful NHL career.
The Maple Leafs drafting hasn’t been a bright spot on the organization for several years – with most of their current talent coming by transactions – and this prospect ranking highlights that.
Hockey’s Future (www.hockeysfuture.com) currently has the Leafs ranked 19th out of 30 NHL teams in respect to overall prospect ranking.
Outside of the obvious potential stars like Morgan Rielly and Nazem Kadri (both top 10 picks) the Leafs have had a tough time searching for adequate players in the NHL Draft.
Noticeably absent from this list is a goaltender. The Leafs hopes and dreams live and die with Jonathan Bernier. Beyond the superstar goaltender there isn’t any help coming in the system.
The Leafs forward prospects – out of G, F, D – come in 2nd on the list of strength positioning and the defensive group narrowly takes the cake in a frustrating group of prospects.
2014 first round pick William Nylander has the highest potential of all of the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects and – by a large margin – projects to be the biggest success out of all current Leafs prospects.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the top five Toronto Maple Leafs prospects starting with number five.
Next: 5. Matt Finn
Next: 4. Frederik Gauthier
Next: 3. Rinat Valiev
Next: 2. Stuart Percy
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Stuart Percy
Defence, Toronto Marlies (AHL)
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Stuart Percy has already played eight games (3 assists) with the Toronto Maple Leafs this season and many people questioned why he was sent back to the Marlies. Percy had a solid rookie season in the AHL last year, finishing with 25 points in 71 games but has struggled this year with only 3 assists in 15 games in the AHL. His up and down play could be directly related with his up and down status with the Leafs early in the season.
By all accounts Percy has a future on the Leafs blueline but where he lands in the depth chart will be up to him. As a two-way defender with more strength’s lying on the defensive side of the coin he could be a good 3-4 defender – potentially with Valiev a few years down the road – for a Leafs team currently struggling to find their defensive identity. Based on his body of work with the Marlies last year he’s an easy slot in at #2.
