Feb 10, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; An ice resurfacer clears the ice before the Toronto Maple Leafs game against the New York Rangers at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
No.09 – ZACH HYMAN
Coming in at No.09 we have what might be the Most Interesting Leafs player to come along in a long time; Zach Hyman.
Hyman isn’t necessarily the most talented prospect in the pipeline – although 54 points in only 37 games with the University of Michigan says he does have talent – and he isn’t the biggest (standing 6ft1 and 194lbs), but he is one of the most interesting. Zach Hyman is an accomplished children’s author, having published two books (“Hockey Hero” and “The Bambino And Me”), was named to the NCAA Big-Ten conference’s All-Star team, a finalist for the NCAA’s Hobey Baker Award and was named one of the University Of Michigan’s Top Athletes giving him some serious resume stuffers should hockey not work out for him.
HockeysFuture.com breaks Hyman down for us:
"“Hyman has above-average speed and is a smooth and shifty skater. He has good lateral quickness and excellent stability on his skates. Hyman has shown dramatic improvement in his defensive and physical play during his college career and plays a disciplined, hard-hitting game in his own zone. He has become a quality possession player who takes a lot of defensive zone starts and converts them into up-ice pressure.”"
We finally have the very first player on our list that all of our writer’s panel agreed belonged inside of our Top20 rankings. It says a lot about the diversity of talent, but also how much of a project many of the Leafs prospects are that there can be so many divergent opinions about so many of them.
More from Draft
- Toronto Maple Leafs: A Closer Look at the New Prospects Drafted This Week
- With the 28th Overall Pick the Toronto Maple Leafs Select…
- The NHL Draft Trap That Can Sink the Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Re-Drafting the Top 10 in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft
- Sifting for Gold May Pan Out for the Toronto Maple Leafs
Zach Hyman has all the markings of a very solid 2nd or 3rd line defensively responsible scoring winger, who plays the body and doesn’t take stupid penalties. He needs to work on his stride a bit as he lacks top end speed but has enough speed and quickness that he can get himself out of trouble with his legs alone.
There would have been a bidding war for the Toronto native had he refused the Florida Panthers offer coming out of the NCAA as was rumoured. Instead of losing him for nothing, Florida traded him to the Leafs for a mid-round pick and Greg McKegg giving the Leafs a limited exclusive window to sign him. Brendan Shanahan pulled out his typical ShanaHammer charm and Hyman was signed a few days later, giving the Leafs another essentially free asset with some decent upside.
Very small chance that Zach Hyman ever sees himself higher on this list than his current No.09 ranking, but he does have all the necessary tools to carve out a long and productive NHL career.
Next: No.08