Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Pool Deeper Than Ever Before

This year’s NHL Draft was a massive one for the Toronto Maple Leafs management. With the pressure of the rebuild and the depth of this draft class, the team is well underway to a bright future.

Mr. Hunter, you did well. Although Dylan Strome was picked at third overall by the Arizona Coyotes, the Toronto Maple Leafs still got a high talent prospect in Mitch Marner at fourth overall, as well as strong draft picks in the later rounds.

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To me, Marner reminds me a little bit of Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane. Now, Marner being 18, I understand that is very lofty expectations but let’s look at his statistics in his past year with the London Knights.

He recorded 126 points and 40 goals, with his goals total being the most ever scored by a London Knights 17 year-old. Players whom he beat go by the name of New York Islanders captain and superstar John Tavares, Kane of the Blackhawks, Maple Leafs current forward Nazem Kadri, Philadelphia Flyers forward Sam Gagner, Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry and current Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan, who was drafted into the NHL in 1987 from the Knights.

Now, being in a category with those players – majority of which have had great success sounds promising. Now, you can’t expect Marner to lead the team right off the bat when he sports the Blue and White, but he has the potential to be a impact player, producing 70-80 points and to fill the void left by Phil Kessel with an added skill set of Patrick Kane and Marner will be fun to watch this upcoming world juniors.

The other draft picks are all solid with players who will add different intangibles to the Maple Leafs or Marlies in the future; but the more intriguing addition to the team is the players acquired in the Kessel trade.

Kasperi Kapanen has a scouting report similar to top prospect William Nylander. Small and speedy forward with a knack for scoring goals and a good hockey IQ. Kapanen, a former first round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins will be a big part of Finland’s World Junior team. Kapanen looked good during the prospects camp, and will most likely spend the year in Europe or the Marlies.

The other big piece required in the trade is defence man Scott Harrington, who has the upside to be a top four defence man in the NHL. Harrington, another London Knights player and former captain has a chance at playing with the Leafs full-time this season, but should play as a top defence man with the Marlies. He is a shut down defence man who is reliable in his own end.

The Maple Leafs are well on their way in the rebuild phase, with top prospects being three first round draft picks in the past two years (Nylander and Kapanen in 2014, Marner in 2015) and hitting gold with Marlies rookie standout Connor Brown who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Entry draft and looks like he could produce good second line and tremendous third line points.

The defence depth and goaltending on the back-end could be seen as the weaker point, but head coach Mike Babcock will be able to develop his players into the roles he needs them to play in the future.

Next: Leafs News: Nylander at Center

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