Toronto Maple Leafs Top 10 Prospects January 2020 Update

The Toronto Maple Leafs pipeline of prospects has been nothing short of miraculous.

The current Toronto Maple Leafs roster is built around four players they drafted and developed into superstars (Morgan Rielly, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews), and outside of a few other pieces, the vast majority of the rest of the roster is made up from Toronto Marlies graduates.

William Nylander, Pierre Engvall, Frederik Gauthier, Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnson, Trevor Moore, Travis Dermott, Justin Holl, Martin Marincin, Dymtro Timashov, Mason Marchment, Adam Brooks, Pontus Aberg, Michael Hutchinson, Kasmir Kaskisuo and Rasmus Sandin are players who’ve played with both the Leafs and Marlies.

It’s most of the roster.

The organization as a whole – both before and after Kyle Dubas – has been spectacular at finding NHL players.

This includes solid KHL signings like Ilya Mikheyev and extends to the teams ability to find late round gems – whether Andreas Johnson, or Pierre Engvall.

With all the recent graduates from the AHL, and having gone several years now without a high pick, and making the playoffs three straight times, you’d think the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect pool would be depleted, but it isn’t.

The Leafs have one – maybe as many as three – Grade ‘A’ prospects, and several intriguing players with either a high ceiling or a good shot at making it.

As the team employs a ‘studs and duds’ approach to the salary cap (correctly signing several star players, then filling out the rest of the roster with value players) the team’s ability to develop players will go a long way in determining whether the prime years of the John Tavares/Auston Matthews partnership see a Stanley Cup.

A note about the rankings: I wasn’t too happy with leaving off so many guys from the last one, and so I’ll be grouping together a few players.   Guessing how good a prospect will be is a fools game, and we aren’t pretending to know everything.

Therefore, we shade players with high ceilings higher than players who might have a better chance at making it as a fringe player.

#10 Ian Scott and Joseph Woll

Jordan Binnington was robbed of the Calder Trophy last season when he was called up in January and took the last place Blues into the playoffs and an eventual Stanley Cup.

It was an amazing performance that no one outside of Binnington’s grandmother could have predicted.  When the year started, Toronto Maple Leafs former goalie-of-the-future prospect Garrett Sparks was considered a better goalie and prospect.

We all know how that worked out.

Therefore, instead of guessing who will be better between these two players who I haven’t even seen play, I’m listing them together.

It’s hard enough to predict how a well-known NHL goalie will perform, so forget about predicting how a prospect goalie will turn out.

These aren’t Carey Price level prospects (the rare goalie everyone knew would be great), but in five years, either of them could be hoisting the Stanley Cup over their head or welcoming you do Walmart.  Who knows?

Joseph Woll, a third round pick from 2016, started two of the Marlies three most recent games, but his stats this year are nothing to write home about.  That said, he has gotten into just under half the team’s games this year so far and that in itself is good news.

Yeah, the stats aren’t that great, but the Marlies have constantly been being drained of players all year – whether from the Leafs or the WJHC – and they’ve had to change coaches.

As for Ian Scott, he didn’t get into any games this year because of a hip injury, and he eventually had surgery.  It is said that he’ll be ready in time for next year’s training camp, but it is an unfortunate lost season for the Leafs co-top netminding prospect.

#9 Mac Hollowell and Joseph Duszak

Coming in at #9 are two solid defensemen who we need more information about before we can guess begin to guess at what they might be.

Mac Hollowell is a 4th round pick from 2018 who shoots right.  He started the years with the ECHL Newfoundland Growlers, and has recently been called up to the Toronto Marlies.

He recently started a game paired with Timothy Liljegren on the Marlies top pairing, but was on the bottom pairing the next game, and he’s also been scratched.  I suppose the Marlies are just trying to get a feel for what he can do in the AHL.  He has 13 points in 19 games in the ECHL. He has played nine AHL games this season. 

Hollowell could well be a late bloomer, as he exploded in the OHL the year after the Leafs took him.  In fact, in the last ten years, of the six players who scored at the same rate at the same age, five of them were picked top 20 and all made the NHL.

Joseph Duszak is two years older than Hollowell and probably doesn’t have the same ceiling as Hollowell, but he is getting more points in the ECHL, and may be much closer to the finished product.

Signed from the NCAA as a free-agent last year, Duszak gives the Toronto Maple Leafs another potentially exciting puck moving defenseman. He is over a point-per-game in the ECHL this year and was recently promoted to the AHL where he’s played six games so far.

#8 The Fringe NHL Players

The Toronto Maple Leafs have outdone themselves by developing so many NHL ready players all at the same time.  This will help them in trades, if injuries occur, and through internal competition.

There is simply no downside to developing good players.

Because of this, and because of the presence of seven other players I think deserve their own page, here, at #8 is your NHL Ready Leafs Fringe Prospect List.

None of these guys are likely to be impact players (although you’d have said that about Engvall or Hyman once-upon-a-time) but regardless, they’re solid NHL prospects worth knowing about.

Adam Brooks has three points in his first five NHL games.  It’s an impressive debut, but probably also a bit lucky.  Still, the 23 year old former 4th round pick (2016) hasn’t looked out of place at all.

After 20 goals in the AHL last year and 16 points in 20 AHL games this year, he’s earned his shot. 

Mason Marchment is an undrafted 24 year old who also recently made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  He’s got a bit of a Zach Hyman vibe going on, and I have no idea what his future holds, but he’s in the NHL right now and that’s something.

Egor Korshkov is a second rounder from 2016.

He’s got some size, and some skill and like Brooks or Marchment, could possibly get a shot at the NHL sometime soon. He’s still an AHL rookie, as he didn’t come to North America immediately after being drafted.  He could still be something.

Dymtro Timashov is 23, and has gotten into 31 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs this year.  His stats are decent and I like his game, but he’s blocked from ever moving up and getting significant minutes on this team, and has supposedly requested a trade.

It makes sense, as the Leafs are just preposterously deep right now.

Teemu Kivilhalme signed as a 24 year old UFA last season and has played 30 games with the Marlies.  He’s a lefty, and that hurts him on the left-shot heavy Leafs, but he’s been mentioned as a possible call-up, and could probably end up on the bottom of an NHL roster eventually.

#7 Jeremy Bracco

The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Jeremy Bracco in the second round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

He is a talented player who has occupied a spot on lists like these since the day he was drafted.  Last season he achieved a 22 goal over-a-point-per-game season in the AHL, which is an indication of future NHL success.

Bracco has elite vision and while he won’t score too many goals in the NHL, his passing is definitely pro-level.

He is a small player, but I don’t think people care too much about that anymore.  They shouldn’t.  While small players can make it in the NHL, in order to do so they’ve got to be able to play their game against bigger guys.  There is a question if Bracco will be able to do this at the NHL level.

Bracco is a right-winger who is blocked from making the Leafs at the present moment, and as such he has requested a trade.

This is a fair decision for him to make because on most other teams he probably would have already gotten in some NHL games.

Bracco could be anything from a fringe player to a late-blooming star.  The odds are though, it won’t be with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and that is why we have him ranked #7.

#6 Pierre Engvall

Pierre Engvall is a 6’5 23 year-old who was drafted in the seventh round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

This is season, in what may be one of the more interesting developments surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs, Engvall was recalled about the time the team made his AHL coach the coach of the NHL team.

Instead of being ignored by Mike Babcock, the Toronto Maple Leafs nearly forgotten, least-hyped prospect was given a regular roll my incoming coach Sheldon Keefe.

Engvall has since gotten into 27 NHL games and may have played his last game in the AHL.

I still rank him on this list though because he’s an intriguing player who we still aren’t sure about.

Will he be a quality fourth line scoring option?  Or will he break out into a top six player?  The jury remains out on the questions.

I’ve got him sixth on this list because he’s still mysterious enough to be a prospect, but I don’t think his ceiling is all that high.

Engvall has seven goals in 27 games, while skating mostly with Kapanen and Ceci.  Interestingly, he jumps to being a 57% player when away from Ceci. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).

He appears to be a great skater for his size, and to have some untapped offensive potential.  He has gotten in about 40 minutes with one of the Leafs top two centres and hasn’t looked out of place.

His points per 60 rating is 2.27 which is first line production.  Now he would obviously have to do that on the first line and for an extended time before we could say he is capable of actual first line production, but it’s encouraging never the less.

Engvall is a late pick that has developed into an NHL player and still has a ceiling.  That’s good enough to make him the Toronto Maple Leafs sixth best prospect.

#5 Mikko Kokkonen

The left-handed 19 year-old Finnish defenseman Mikko Kokkonen comes in at #5 on the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect list.

Considering the Leafs didn’t have a first round pick last year, their draft is starting to look like a very big success.  Their second round pick, Nick Robertson will (spoiler alert) make an appearance on this list shortly, while their third round pick was Mikko Kokkonen, who has rocketed up their charts since being drafted.

One of the reasons people are so high on Kokkonen is that in his draft year he played against men in Finland, and had a very successful year.  He is a two-way player who won’t put up big offensive numbers, but has tons off offensive skill.

Kokkonen is a prototypical Toronto Maple Leafs prospect: smart, small, talented, offensively capable with defensive upside.

If I’m ranking him too high on this list, it’s because everything I’ve read about him – i.e cerebral puck mover with smart defensive instincts – reminds me of Travis Deromtt, and I absolutely love Travis Dermott.

#3 Timothy Liljegren

Timothy Liljegren was playing in the AHL before he was supposed to be.  Due to an extremely dumb rule that says players have to either be in junior hockey or the OHL after they are drafted, Liljegren was one of the few exceptions allowed to play at his age.

As one of the youngest players in the AHL Liljegren had a ton of success. He is a very, very good NHL prospect.

He may not end up being a top pairing player, but he’s almost guaranteed to make the show, and it’s not impossible that he ends up being a star.

He seems to have lost some of his hype, but that is Toronto for you.

If a team that had recently developed four or five draft picks into superstar, you’d be happy, now that that team was a contender, to have Liljegren as your top prospect.

But the fact that he’s #3 on this list speaks to the strength of the Leafs program and drafting abilities.

Will he be trade bait?

Will he top out as a #4 defenseman?

Will he partner with Rasmus Sandin to be one of the best pairings in the NHL someday?

We just don’t know.  He made his NHL debut last week and looked fine in limited minutes.  The future is bright for Liljegren and the Leafs, and if he survives in Toronto past this year’s trade deadline, expect to see him as a staple of the Leafs blueline for years to come.

#2 Nick Robertson

The Toronto Maple Leafs took a chance on a kid who was four days away from not qualifying for the draft.

Robertson was taken 58th overall, despite being the youngest player available.

It’s  a risk that is paying off in spades for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Robertson currently has 33 goals in 30 games in the OHL.  He also has 50 points and if he wasn’t injured would be competing for the OHL’s scoring title.

Robertson, if he was four days older, would be a likely top ten pick this summer.

When you’re pulling off moves like this with frequency, who cares if you have to trade your first round pick to improve the NHL team?  Not Kyle Dubas, apparently.

Robertson is a beast who has a very good chance of being a star player in the NHL.

The only thing stopping him from being the Leafs top prospect is that they’ve got another superstar in the making playing a premier position.

Still, there is no reason for a team that is a Cup Contender to have prospects like this.  The Athletic’s Corey Pronman just ranked him 11th out of all drafted prospects.  He says he has an elite shot, and elite vision.

That means that the world’s leading prospect evaluator thinks the player the Leafs drafted 58th six months ago ranks as the 11th best player who has recently been drafted and isn’t currently in the NHL.

A re-draft would see him go higher than the player the Kings used with the Leafs 1st picks.  (Tobias Bjornfot).

#1 Rasmus Sandin

No surprise here.

Rasmus Sandin has been excellent this year in the NHL when given the opportunity (for the most part) and projects as a future NHL star, and top-pairing defenseman.

Corey Pronman ranked him tenth in the NHL among drafted prospects.  Pronman called him a “high end” prospect who will be a first pairing player.

That is great news.

Sandin isn’t physical, he won’t wow you with his speed, shot or passing – what makes him so good is his intelligence.  The reason he is a 29th pick who has risen so highly is that the tools scouts look for to project a star player aren’t really there for him.

What is there is an above average skill-set combined with a being one of the smartest players around.  Decision making and position are his strengths.

Sandin is going to be one of the best defenseman in Toronto Maple Leafs history and this is the last time he makes this list.  If he plays in one more game – and he will – his contract will kick in and his AHL career will be over.

About time.

Sandin should probably have been a regular this entire season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he forces his way above the bottom pairing before the year is out.  If not, he and Dermott are going to make for one of the best third pairings anyone has ever seen.