Toronto Maple Leafs Prospects: Top 20 Young Leafs #16-20

Will Brendan Shanahan and his #Shanaplan lead our beloved Leafs back to the promised land? Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Top 20 Young Leafs

We here at EditorInLeaf are always trying to come up with new ways of keeping you, LeafsNation entertained and informed. In regards to that, we’ve been working on something special for awhile for you…

EditorInLeaf’s 1st Annual Top20 Young Leafs.

Scouts mostly agree that you don’t really know what kind of impact a player will have until he plays 250 games in the league, or just over 3 full seasons. Following that thought process, the writers here at EditorInLeaf.com have each voted for our top young Leaf players following that 250 game played cap as well as an age limit of 24 by the start of the season (so no Kadri) as our only rules. We’ve each ranked all 39 eligible players from 1 to 20, with a 1st place vote being assigned 20 points, a second place vote being assigned 19 points, etc.

We then added up each of our individual lists and the points given to each player and came up with the official final Top 20 rankings. To keep things consistent all player information and stats come from eliteprospects.com, unless otherwise mentioned.

If you’d like a full break down check out the Intro piece we put out last week here.

In today’s piece we finally kick off our long-awaited Top 20 Young Leafs official rankings! With a bang, we start at the bottom of our list, here comes No.16-20 of the best young players our beloved Leafs have to offer.

Keep in mind this ranking is by no means the be-all-and-end-all of prospect rankings and is meant purely to help pass the time until training camp and hockey related news starts kicking back up into gear, and maybe serve to enlighten you on just how far the Leafs pipeline of young talent has come and what to expect from them.

*rankings were taken from staff members prior to the departure of Robb and David. The departed staff members contributions remain in the rankings for weighting purposes and variance.

Next: Number 20

Mar 16, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs right winger Richard Panik (18) collides with Edmonton Oilers right winger Nail Yakupov (10) after Yakupv tripped Panik in the third period at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Chris LaFrance-USA TODAY Sports

No.20 – Richard Panik

By: Cynthia

Panik, 24, was drafted 52nd overall in the second round of the 2009 NHL entry draft. The Leafs claimed him off the waiver wire from Tampa Bay – who thought they could sneak him through after a good training camp – in October of 2014. Panik recorded 17 points in 76 games with the Maple Leafs.  In the 75 previous NHL games with Tampa Bay, he recorded 22 points.

Panik is an offensive winger who has great puck-handling ability. He is a great skater and has a solid shot, hard shot that he is able to get off in-tight.  Although not a phenomenal skater, he is not a poor one and is very capable of getting up ice quickly with a powerful, if choppy stride.

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Our table of writers had some VERY differing opinions about Richard Panik, with Robb, Jon and David all having him just outside their Top20’s and Torrin and Tim having him inside their respective Top10’s. When it comes down to what his value is, it breaks down to what you value more.

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If you place more weight on contributing to the NHL roster sooner than later, Panik gets big time points as an established bottom 6 regular last season. If you ranked your list based on upside and long-term potential, then he falls off a bit as time is quickly running out on the 24-year-old to show he can be more than just a dependable bottom 6 guy.

Panik, according to reports, ended up on the waivers from Tampa because of clear consistency problems – mainly when it comes to defensive zone coverage. He was also passed on the depth chart by Tampa’s plethora of other young and talented players, namely Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov, Jonathan Drouin and Brett Connolly. Richard Panik is a player who isn’t afraid to play a physical game and uses his 6ft2, 207lb brick wall of a body to go through opponents.

He has the size and strength that the NHL demands, his problems just lie with him under-utilizing them. If he truly committed to the power forward game his skill set hints that he can dominate with, mostly by adding on another 8lbs of muscle and consistently using his natural size to dominate along the boards and in the corners, you would see his name quickly rise up our rankings.

He’s a solid depth player who isn’t going to put up the biggest numbers on the team but can still make his time on the ice count. He’s a talented young right-winger with an upside and comes to the Leafs a relatively low-cost during the rebuild process. With the potential to eventually grow into a solid two-way top 9 power forward, he also holds enough tangible upside to be worth including inside our inaugural Top20.

Next: Number 19

Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

N0.19 – Carter Verhaeghe

By: Tim Chiasson

The 19th ranked Toronto Maple Leafs prospect in the system, voted by the EditorInLeaf.com writers, is Carter Verhaeghe, who served as the Niagara Ice Dogs captain.

Verhaeghe was drafted by the Leafs in the 3rd round, 82nd overall, during the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The 20 year-old center took rookie camp by storm last year, performing incredibly well and catching the eyes of many Maple Leafs scouts.

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Verhaeghe is a product of Watertown, ON and has played with the Ice Dogs for four seasons, and is no longer eligible for the OHL – which means Maple Leaf fans can watch him with the Toronto Marlies or, more likely, the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears where he will most likely battle Frederik Gauthier for the big minutes role this upcoming season.

He continued to progress during the season, known as a playmaker, Verhaeghe still put the puck in the back of the net with the Ice Dogs, producing 33 goals and 49 assists for 82 points in 68 games – best on his team and helped lead the Ice Dogs to a playoff berth.

He continued his stellar playmaking and point producing skills into the post-season; scoring six goals and setting up eight goals while playing responsible defensively. The Ice Dogs beat the Ottawa 67’s in six games, but then lost to the Memorial Cup Champions – Oshawa Generals (Newly minted Leafs Assistant Coach DJ Smith’s team) in five games.

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A bit more alignment between our writers with Verhaeghe as only 2 of us ranked him outside the Top 20 (25 and 22 respectively). Verhaeghe has undeniable skill but has enough holes and unpolished areas of his game that the risk vs reward of his future in the organization won’t be known for several years. Would not be surprising to see him rise quickly up this list next year if he adjusts quickly to the pro game, or to fall completely off as the Leafs continue to add high quality players through the beginning of their rebuild.

The scouting report on Verhaeghe is like any other ordinary scouting report, but what I like about him; is that he has had a position of leadership (like many Leaf draft picks). Most coaches and scouts say that his skating needs to be improved; he doesn’t have that strong first step.

The positives to his games are his top-notch playmaking vision to go along with good offensive instincts and positioning. He is a face-off ace and was used in most situations with the Ice Dogs.

Hopefully Verhaeghe can pan out to be a third line scoring center, only time will tell but with the proper development the Maple Leafs may have found a good pick in the third round.

Next: Number 18

Jan 9, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Practice pucks at center ice before the Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

No.18 – Andreas Johnson

By: Torrin Batchelor

Coming in at a lowly 18th overall on our list, the slippery Swede stolen 202nd overall in the 7th round of the 2013 NHL entry draft will fly up the rankings a lot sooner than later.

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Not blessed with “typical” NHL size – he is only listed as 5ft10 and 176lbs – Andreas Johnson has borderline elite talent and if he wasn’t staying another season in the SHL would be a lot higher up this list. Johnson began his whirlwind season by being diagnosed with Asthma, which had many doubting his future as an NHL player, this was dragged down further by coming out of the summer with no ELC from the Leafs.

However, Johnson quickly erased any fears as he skipped Leafs training camp to play in the European Champions Hockey League tournament, going on a torrential 11 goals and 25 points in only 12 games, the hockey world took notice again. Johnson continued his goal scoring exploits with 22 goals and 35 points (including leading the entire SHL in-game winning goals with 9).

Elite skating and a seemingly unnatural ability to find open ice in the offensive zone combined with a heavy, heavy one timer lead to Johnson being a VERY potent offensive weapon. There are some real fears about his size and ability to adjust to the smaller North American ice surface with more aggressive fore-checkers and larger defenders, but Johnson has all the tools, and more importantly the will power to overcome all obstacles.

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The fact that Johnson went outside of the Leafs Top20 by some of our writers blows my mind, but does speak to how much the Leafs prospect quality and depth has vastly improved in the past calendar year. I placed a little more weight on immediate, or the potential for immediate contributions to the NHL team and Johnson’s staying in the SHL for another season dropped him down my rankings a bit.

Getting Johnson locked up to an ELC by the Leafs this summer also eliminates the risk that he would stay in the SHL long-term and gives the Leafs another free year of development before he crosses the pond next season and absolutely dominates the AHL jumping into the same discussion as the Connor Brown’s and Kasperi Kapanen’s of the Leafs pipeline.

Johnson has only gotten better every year, and does not seem to be stopping as he has already registered 3 assists in his first Champions league game this summer. Keep an eye on this player Leafs Nation, he will be a household name a lot sooner than later.

Next: Number 17

Mar 31, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Casey Bailey (37) shoots the puck during the pre game warm up against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

No.17 – Casey Bailey

By: Torrin Batchelor

Coming in at number 17 on our Top 20 Young Leafs rankings is former Penn State Right Winger Casey Bailey. Stylistically and physically very similar to Richard Panik, the two share many of the same strengths and weaknesses and will probably be in each other ways in terms of development and opportunities until one clearly overtakes the other.

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The first player on our rankings to only have a single writer (me) not rank him inside their top 20, Casey Bailey is a behemoth on the ice. At 6ft3 and 195lbs, the center turned winger rose up as a primo goal scorer in the NCAA, but wasn’t able to show many offensive flashes in his limited opportunity (mostly in a bottom 6 role) with the Maple Leafs last season. I’ve done a pretty detailed breakdown of Casey Bailey before that you can read here, and after seeing more of his game at the pro level I still like what the Leafs have in him.

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A physically intimidating player, Bailey uses his size as a wrecking ball in the defensive zone to separate puck from carrier, but doesn’t really bring that level of physical play to the offensive zone which combined with his sub-par skating can leave him ineffective on the forecheck.

He only scored 1 point (his first NHL goal) in 6 games with the Leafs, but as he was played mostly in a defensive role showed that he could be relied upon to play solid defensively and back check hard – which bodes well for his chances in Mike Babcock’s system. He is a player that could probably benefit from some time spent with the Marlies, then being among the first to be called up once the Leafs start the foresail on their unrestricted free agents, but will most likely be battling for one of the 12th-14th forward roles with the Leafs out of training camp.

Bailey did have a knack of finding open ice and getting the puck off the ice when in tight to the net in the NCAA, but didn’t really have a chance to show those skills in his brief cup of coffee with the Maple Leafs. This season will be a better barometer of where he truly sits on the Leafs depth chart, and whether he is a player with top 6 scoring upside, or just the reliable bottom 6 NHLer he’s proven to be in his admittedly short sample size so far.

Next: Number 16

Mar 23, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Martin Marincin (85) and Winnipeg Jets forward Chris Thorburn (22) battle in front of goaltender Ben Scrivens (30) during the second period at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

No.16 – Martin Marincin

By: Torrin Batchelor

The Edmonton Oilers 2nd round pick in 2010 was acquired in an absolute steal of a trade involving Brad Ross and a 4th round pick at the 2015 NHL Draft.

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A pretty wide range of opinions among our staff when it comes to Marincin, he makes it on to our list largely because of great advanced stat metrics and an apparent readiness to contribute at the NHL level right away. With the large reaction of anger from Edmonton fans after the trade, there is a certain amount of hope that Marincin can make a decent impact in his Maple Leafs debut season, however due to a limited upside he will fall down this list faster than he will rise.

In two seasons with Edmonton he has significantly out-performed his given role on the Oilers blueline (dCorsi60 of 7.13 amd 5.51) and he’s also been a solid possession defender on a horrible possession team. Marincin is a great add to the current system and has a future with the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline.

With Marincin you aren’t going to get huge offensive numbers at the NHL level, but you are going to get steady defensive play. He’s a great complimentary player to a puck moving partner. Marincin himself has decent puck moving ability, but he tends to reserve himself in that regard.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner as the future of top-end puck moving defenders, having a steady defensive defender who can handle the puck as well is a great bonus and solidifies a potentially good third pairing down the road.

Marincin hasn’t garnered enough positive attention with everything else that’s gone on since the NHL draft, but he’s a player Toronto Maple Leafs fans are going to enjoy.

Next: Recap