Toronto Maple Leafs Top Prospects Part 2 (2018)
The Toronto Maple Leafs Top Prospects: Part 2
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be adding some prospects to an already deep talent pool, this week at the NHL Entry Draft in Dallas. The draft starts Friday night with Round one, and then rounds two through seven are held on Saturday.
The Leafs currently hold the 25th pick in the draft. Whether or not they use it is up for debate, but we’ll so shortly anyhow. (For the record, I think that they will trade it).
Whether or not the Leafs select a player at 25, or whether they trade the pick outright, or move up or down, one thing is for certain: They’ll be getting some more prospects.
The Leafs hold picks in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounds, as well as two in the 7th round.
What follows is the Leafs pre-draft 2018 top ten list. We polled all writers at Editor in Leaf and many of us worked together to write up the profiles.
Where we disagreed on rankings, when it was close, we gave more weight to ceiling and less weight to odds that the player makes the NHL in some capacity. Hence why Eemeli Rasanen made the list and Frederick Gauthier did not.
Part One Recap
Part one was released last week and kicked off with Dymtro Timashov. Timashov was one of several new additions to the Toronto Maple Leafs top ten prospect rankings, and feel to check out past editions here and here and here.
2018 Top Ten:
10. Dymtro Timashov
9. Eemeli Rasanen
8. Pierre Engvall
7. Adam Brooks
6. Jeremy Bracco
This selection of prospects shows how the Leafs front office has been working over the last few seasons. All of these players are, more or less, projects. They are players who were selected after the first round (and in some cases much later) who have high potential, but maybe not all that great of a shot at actually realizing it.
Whereas past most NHL teams seem to favor players who have realistic shots of making the league, the Leafs have identified players with high skill levels or unique gifts, with the hope that they may pan out. Of course not all of them will, but the hope is to find one or two diamonds in the rough along the way.
Trevor Moore
James Tanner
Trevor Moore was not drafted by the Leafs or anyone else in 2013. The small American winger went to Denver to play university hockey where he scored almost a point per game over three seasons before earning a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs signed Moore in 2016 and he has now played two seasons with the Marlies, including a Calder Cup Championship. Over both seasons Moore had similar stats, though it took him 11 extra games this season to record 33 points. (He had 13 goals this year, and 12 last year).
Editor in Leaf’s Mike Stephens had this to say about Moore:
Over the regular season, Keefe deployed Moore in practically every role under the sun. He became a staple on both power play and penalty kill, additionally logging minutes on all four lines, and even drawing in at centre on rare occasions.
Moore is a nice prospect with great wheels and tons of versatility. He probably isn’t going too get much powerplay or top six time in the NHL though, and unlike players like Hyman, he won’t make up for any lack of skill with his size. There’s also the fact that he is 23. I personally think he’s too high on this list, but a vote is a vote!
Some love the story – undrafted, signed by the Leafs, now a top five prospect – and that blinds them to the fact that we’re probably looking at 20 goal third liner with defense/penalty kill abilities in a best case scenario. Nothing wrong with that, at all. But the hype train can get a little out of control in Toronto.
However, Moore’s high ranking can also be attributed to the hail mary nature of the five guys behind him, and the fact that he is almost certainly going to make the NHL in some capacity. A 20 goal scoring third liner with penalty killing abilities is nothing to turn your nose up at, and if a teams #5 prospect turns into even a 4th line regular, that’s not too bad! Even if these kind of prospect lists sort of give the idea that everyone will turn out to be a hidden gem of a first liner!
Carl Grundstrom
Carson Trask
Carl Grundstrom is a 6′ 194 LBS Swedish winger who is 21 years old.
Since being drafted 57th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Carl Grundstrom has been a top Prospect for Toronto Maple Leafs. At first glance, his stats in the Swedish Elite league don’t seem that impressive, but as a teenager playing in that league they are. Scoring 14 goals in 45 games as an 18 year old playing in the defensively resound SHL league is impressive.
Grundstrom has been no stranger to representing his country internationally. He has worn the Swedish jersey at the: U17,Hlinka Gretzky Cup, U18, and the 2016 and 2017 World Junior Championships. Although Grundstrom has a lot of international experience, his stats aren’t great. 16 points in 29 games, with his best production coming in the 2017 WJC, where he recorded 7 points in 7 games.
In Carl Grundstrom’s limited action in the AHL, he has proven he can score for the Marlies. In 22 career AHL games, including regular season and playoffs, he has scored 10 goals. He is a tenacious player that does the dirty work, to go along with the ability to finish scoring chances. Grundstrom appears to be another Zach Hyman, with how relentless he is on the puck, but has a way higher upside.
Making the leafs out of training camp next season is a real possibility, and if so putting him on Auston Mathews left wing would be a perfect fit. Grundstrom looks like a player that is already physically mature enough to handle the NHL level. With roster spots opening up on the wing, he is a prime candidate to win a job in September.
Regardless of how teams talk about players after they draft them, they have no idea how that player is going to turn out. The NHL Entry Draft is a crap shoot, and as each selection passes the odds of that player becoming something continues to fall. Selected Late in the second round the Leafs appear to have something in Carl Grundstrom, and his time with the Leafs could be sooner rather than later.
Garret Sparks
Chris Vassos
Garret Sparks is the best of Toronto Maple Leafs up and coming goaltenders. He’s had a career year with the Toronto Marlies this season posting a 0.936 save percentage with 31-9-1 record.
Both of those stats are league leading, but where did Sparks come from? A graduate of the Guelph Storm hockey program, Sparks got his start with the Toronto Marlies in 2012-13. Allowing 8 goals over 3 games, Sparks set himself up to get a more prominent role the next season earning 21 starts in the 2013-14 season.
Sparks posted himself a 0.915 over 21 games played with a 11-6 record. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough for the Toronto Marlies management who sent him down to Orlando in the ECHL. Sparks posted a 0.936 with the Orlando Solar Bears during the 2014-15 season and ended up playing 2 games with a 0.966 save percentage.
This season was enough to earn him an opportunity with the Toronto Maple Leafs. During the 2015-16 season, Garret Sparks got a 17 game stint with the Toronto Marlies thanks to a groin injury to James Reimer.
Getting a shutout in his first game made him seem very promising to the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase. Unfortunately the very next game, Sparks let 6 goals against the Winnipeg Jets. After going 6-9-1 that season, Sparks was demoted to the Toronto Marlies. \
Over the next two seasons, Sparks played in 74 Regular Season games with an astounding 52-19-1 record. This recent play has also earned the Toronto Marlies a spot in the Calder Cup Finals where as of me writing this are playing in Game 7 for the Championship. Sparks is also putting the Toronto Maple Leafs in a difficult situation with their goaltenders. He is not waiver exempt and if the Maple Leafs were to call him up next season, he would have to pass through Waivers where he would ultimately get claimed. He is definitely worth keeping an eye on this upcoming season as he could end up being the Toronto Maple Leafs backup goaltender.
Sparks could back up Freddie Andersen as soon as next season and he projects as a possible NHL starter. For that, he earns the title of the Leafs 4th best prospect.
Andreas Johnsson
James Tanner
What more can be written about Andreas Johnsson? The guy is the poster boy for taking highly talented longshot players with late draft picks. When you look at the raw skill potential of the Leafs prospects, its nice to see the successful culmination of such a prospect to give hope to the whole enterprise.
A seventh round pick in 2013, Johnsson has rocketed up the Leafs prospect chart in recent months. Given his clear readiness to play a regular role on an NHL team, some in our poll even ranked him as the top prospect. He was one of, if not the best player in the AHL this past season. he won the Calder Cup and had he not been called up to the Leafs, very well could have won the scoring title.
He was great in the playoffs in a limited role for the Leafs this past spring. His skating and offensive abilities give hope that he can be a 30 goal scoring winger on a competing team in the NHL.
Johnsson is due for a new contract, and it will be extremely interesting to see if the Leafs lock him up at a slightly unearned price for the long term, or if they go cheap and make him prove that he succeed in the NHL before handing him long-term security. I wrote about it here.
Expect Johnsson to make the Leafs out of camp next season, hopefully on a scoring line with one of Matthews, Kadri or Tavares.
Timothy Liljegren
James Tanner
Timothy Liljegren is a Swedish right-shooting defenseman who the Leafs drafted last year at #17. As you are no doubt aware, he dropped in the draft because he had mono, and before he got sick he was thought to go as high as #2.
Liljegren – because he never played in a Canadian Junior League – was able to join the AHL this season despite most players his age not being able to. Liljegren was the second youngest player in the league. He played somewhat sheltered minutes on the Marlies blueline and helped the team secure a championship when they won the Calder Cup just last week.
More from Editor In Leaf
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Nick Robertson Healthy and Ready
- Ryan Reaves Will Have Zero Impact on Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Playing Max Domi In Top-Six a HUGE Mistake
- Top 10 Scandals in the History of the Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Results from the Traverse City Prospects Tournament
Liljegren has the ceiling of a Norris winning superstar, but if he’s a top six defenseman who can play a regular shift in the NHL, the Leafs will still have done well getting him at 17. Its hard to know if a player can hit his potential unless they’re a no-doubt superstar in the mold of Auston Matthews. With Liljegren, we’ll have to wait a while to find out.
We might not have to wait that long though. He’s 19 and players his age tend to improve significantly year to year. If he comes to training camp next season better than he is right now, it will be hard to keep him off the Leafs.
Especially when you consider that he plays right-defense, which is the Leafs weakest position.
Many people say he needs another year, but I don’t know how you’re supposed to get so certain about these things. He couldn’t possibly be as bad as Roman Polak, and the Leafs had no trouble playing him. The list of guys he’d have to jump over – Hainsey, Bergman, Carrick, Holl, Rosen – isn’t all that impressive.
I’m not saying he’ll be in the NHL for sure, but the odds seem good. The Leafs have had no problem rushing players to the NHL – a year ago they finished a season in which they played eight or nine rookies every night – and if Liljegren earns it, he’ll play.
Next: Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Grades
Timothy Liljegren is the Leafs best prospect, and thus concludes our top ten countdown.
Stats from naturalstattrick.com, hockeydb.com, NHL.com.