Toronto Maple Leafs Prospects: Top 20 Young Leafs #6-10

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Feb 20, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer (34) gets covered up by the goal during the 2nd period as Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen Jake Gardiner (51) comes to help lift off the net at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

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

EditorInLeaf’s 1st Annual Top 20 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 Top20 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, see it here.

We’ve already broken down our Top 20 Young Leafs ranked 16-20 which you can check out here, and Top 20 Young Leafs ranked 11-15 – which you can see here.

No.10 – PETER HOLLAND

Peter Holland, the veteran of 42 points in 130 NHL games between Anaheim and Toronto is at No.10 on our list. The 6ft2, 194lb center is a former 1st round pick (15th overall in 2009) by the Anaheim Ducks and was picked up by the Leafs in a prospect swap back in 2013.

The former Guelph Storm assistant captain scored 11 goals and 25 points in 62 games for the Leafs last season. He was also paraded around by the organization all summer as their official ambassador at many charity, community and media events, leading many to theorize his place in the organization is cemented for the time being.

HockeysFuture.com breaks Holland down for us:

“Holland has begun to put his game together in the past couple of seasons. Where he was a player who could have been described as having all the tools but no tool box, Holland has evened out his effort and consistency. He is a big player with a soft touch. Although he is more of a shoot-first center, he has the vision and passing skills to be a respectable setup man.”

Peter Holland has always had the potential to be an impact offensive performer, but has never seemed to prove that 1st round choice with real production. He has evolved his defensive game over the past two seasons, and was a key cog in the Leafs penalty kill last season.

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One of the biggest issues with Peter Holland that the Leafs need to figure out, is “What Exactly IS Peter Holland?”. Is he the dynamic offensive force capable of playing inside the Top6 that he was draft as? Is he a solid possession player, that plays excellent defense? Is he somewhere between the two extremes? The Leafs will need to find that out sooner, than later

Peter Holland will continue to fall down this list until he has that “ahah” moment and we learn exactly who he is as a player. However, he starts this high on our rankings because he is an NHL player at this point and still has enough of a ceiling potentially that he can develop into more. The next two seasons will be critical for his development and future with the Leafs.

Next: No.09

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.

No.08 – STUART PERCY

Stuart Percy is an interesting prospect that every writer had on their list. He had a brief taste of the NHL last season but didn’t perform overly impressive in the small sample of action he was given.

His shot chance generation, possession and goals percentage leave much to be desired, but that may have had something to do with his horrible deployment (-17.86 relative offensive zone start percentage) by (then) head coach Randy Carlyle – who Percy played eight of his nine games under.

What Percy brings to the game are quiet defensive skills. He’s not going to wow anyone, nor is he going to register a significant amount of points. Percy is a guy who needs to be sound in his own end and make smart decisions with the puck when he gets it.

He’ll be looking to have a bounce-back season with the Toronto Marlies this year to prove his worth to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. Now that Matt Finn has been sent off to the pasture, Percy has much more pressure resting on his shoulders knowing that the new front office isn’t afraid to move young players if they don’t perform or fit their current mold.

As it stands now, there’s still a chance for Percy to become a solid third pairing defender in the NHL – but he’s going to have to prove that he still possesses those skills if he wants to get there as a Toronto Maple Leafs player.

Next: No.07

Sep 16, 2013; Sunrise, FL, USA; Nashville Predators left wing Brendan Leipsic (40) during a game against the Florida Panthers in the third period at the BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

No.07 – BRENDAN LEIPSIC

Lucky No.07 on our list was the main piece acquired in the Cody Franson trade at last years deadline, Brendan Leipsic. The diminutive speedster (he’s listed at 5ft9 and 165lbs)

He has often been called the most hated player in the AHL for his on-ice shenanigans and phenomenal ability to get under the other teams skin… like this gem:

Hockey’s Future breaks down Brendan Gallagher…. er… Brendan Leipsic for us:

“Leipsic is a small, energetic winger who hits everything that moves and makes life miserable for his opponents. The speedy forward is offensively skilled, a gifted finisher, and can produce on the power play. He needs to add strength, more consistency throughout the season, and play on the edge without going over the line. The physical winger could project into a top-six forward at the NHL level but at worst, a checker with some offensive upside.”

Only the third prospect on our list that we all agreed belonged in the Top 20, Leipsic will never be confused in person for Milan Lucic, but when you are watching him on the ice, you could be forgiven for mistaking the two.

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A human, pint-sized battering ram, Leipsic plays like a forward larger than his size. Willing to go into the corners and battle it out in front of the net, his warrior spirit and good foot speed allow him to overcome his miniature frame.

While in the WHL he was a prolific goal scorer, he became more of a pass-first player in his rookie season in the AHL, whether that will continue this season is something we will have to wait and see. While Leipsic will probably never sniff 60 points in an NHL season, and his size will always be a factor he will have to overcome. Leipsic, by all accounts has all the necessary tools to be an NHL regular inside the Leafs 2nd and 3rd forward lines.

While not a liability by any means, his defensive play stands to improve with more seasoning in at the pro level and if he could re-add his former goal scoring prowess to his repertoire of tricks he’d be taking himself to the next level. This will be the highest we see Leipsic on this list, but he will be a Top 20 Young Leafs staple for a few years at least.

Next: No.06

Jun 30, 2013; Newark, NJ, USA; Frederik Gauthier walks to the stage after being introduced as the number twenty-one overall pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2013 NHL Draft at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

No.06 – FREDERIK GAUTHIER

At No.06 we have probably one of the Leafs most controversial prospects in the 6ft5 214lb behemoth that is Frederik Gauthier. Freddie “The Goat” as he is affectionately called by teammates was drafted 21st overall in the 2013 draft by the Leafs and many analysts felt it was a reach at the time, and “The Goat” hasn’t necessarily done anything to dissuade them otherwise so far.

When he was drafted he fit the Brian Burke model of Truculence, Testosterone and Belligerence that the former Leafs GM preached would lead Toronto to it’s next Stanley Cup. He was big, he was strong, he was an ace on face-offs and excellent in his own end and everyone though his offence would come along with time… that time has not yet arrived.

Here’s what HockeysFuture.com had to say about The Goat:

“Gauthier is a polished prospect who combines great size with a mature game at both ends of the ice. The same on-ice vision and hockey sense that makes him a dangerous contributor at the offensive side of the game serves him well in breaking up opposing plays in his own zone. He is strong on the cycle, skates well and uses his size to win battles. Gauthier is very good in the face-off circle. Though he may never be a top offensive threat, he has too many tools to ignore.”

Recap

So Leafs Nation what do you think?

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 hopefully has served to enlighten you on just how far the Leafs pipeline of young talent has come and what to expect from them.

For a quick recap here is how our list stands so far:

No.20 – Richard Panik

No.19 – Carter Verhaeghe (Recently Traded To The Islanders)

No.18 – Andreas Johnson

No.17 – Casey Bailey

No.16 – Martin Marincin

No.15 – Dmytro Timashov

No.14 – Scott Harrington

No.13 – Travis Dermott

No.12 – Viktor Loov

No.11 – Jeremy Bracco

No.10 – Peter Holland

No.09 – Zach Hyman

No.08 – Stuart Percy

No.07 – Brendan Leipsic

No.06 – Frederik Gauthier

We’ve started to dig into the real meat of our rankings now with some of the Leafs bigger name prospects in Leipsic and Gauthier. 15 prospects in and we’ve only collectively agreed on 3 that should be in the Top 20 on each of our individual rankings. That speaks a lot to he depth and diversity of the Leafs prospect pool, but also to how each of our prospects has some serious holes to their games that they will need to overcome to make an impact at the NHL level.

Let us know in the comments below or on twitter about which prospects deserve their spot? Which don’t? Which should be higher? Is Hyman the most interesting prospect in the world? Is Gauthier the Leafs most controversial prospect? Which shouldn’t have made the list at all? Stay tuned next week for Editor In Leaf’s Top 5 Top 20 Young Leafs!

Next: EIL Top 20 Young Leafs #11-#15

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