Josh Leivo
Full disclosure: I know that a 24 year old has no right to be on a team’s top prospect list. NHL players peak, on average, at age 23/24, and the vast majority of successful NHL players are already established in the league.
Furthermore, players this age who already play in the NHL are pretty much already all their going to be. Rare is the player who breaks in at age 24 and suddenly becomes a star.
Rare it may be, but that doesn’t mean it never happens. Toronto fans are all familiar with a certain pair of 27 year old part-time baseball players who (for reasons still inexplicable) managed to become top-ten MLB players for the better part of a decade.
This almost never happens, but let’s talk about Josh Leivo anyways.
The 6’2 2011 third round pick remains as one of the last holdovers from the Burke/Nonis era. In parts of four seasons, he has played 41 games and scored nine goals and 18 points.
Last Year’s Performance
It was his performance last season that has him on this list, however. In 13 games, Leivo managed 10 assists. This wasn’t enough to earn him a regular shift, but it was enough to get him protected in the recent expansion draft.
In what was kind of a lost season for Leivo (he only played 18 games total between the NHL and the AHL) he did manage to work his way into the lineup conversation.
When Leivo played, he produced. Even though he only played 160 minutes, his points per 60 was third in the NHL – behind Stamkos and Malkin, and ahead of Crosby. Obviously he’s not that good, and the sample is small, but that’s enough production to earn more ice time.
Leivo shoots a lot, puts up good possession numbers and is generally effective whenever he’s on the ice. Players who drive possession and take a lot of shots are always needed.
Though he is fast approaching a time when the team will have to use him or let him go, for now he remains the Toronto Maple Leafs fifth best prospect.