Toronto Maple Leafs Lose Exclusive Rights to Two Prospects

The Toronto Maple Leafs have lost exclusive rights to two of their 2018 draftees.

Every year on June 1, nearly every NHL team loses exclusive rights to a prospect they have drafted that they have elected to not sign to an entry-level contract. For the Toronto Maple Leafs, this year sees them lose the rights to 2018 third-rounder Riley Stotts and 2018 seventh-rounder Zachary Bouthillier.

Each team has a certain amount of time to sign their drafted prospects before their exclusive rights expire, varying depending on the league they were drafted out of.

CHL draftees must be signed within two years, Europeans outside of Russia must be signed within four years, and collegiate-bound players must be signed following the conclusion of their final year of college.

Toronto Maple Leafs Lose Two Prospects

The only exception is prospects drafted out of Russia. As the NHL and KHL do not have a transfer agreement, players drafted out of Russia don’t have their rights expire until they would be eligible for unrestricted free agency at age 27.

This year, the Leafs have two prospects out of the CHL that have their rights expire. We already knew that QMJHL netminder Zachary Bouthillier would not be signed as he committed to the UQTR Patriotes last week.

https://twitter.com/PatriotesUQTR/status/1265745139701514246?s=20

Bouthillier was a seventh-round swing by the Leafs, at the time a decent statistical goaltender stuck on a bad Chicoutimi team. Unfortunately for Bouthillier, he never found himself on a good team in the QMJHL and was never able to post a save percentage above .900. He struggled mightily in his post-draft season and was traded to Saint John mid-way through the year, before rebounding slightly in 2019-20 to post a career-best .897 SV%.

With scoring rates coming down and save percentages in the league continuing to rise, a sub-.900 SV% in today’s QMJHL just isn’t the same as it used to be in the high flying days of the past. Bouthillier is a prospect that would’ve benefitted significantly from late-season time with the Toronto Marlies at the conclusion of his QMJHL season, being able to work alongside the Marlies staff and potentially prove himself when surrounded by more talent. Just think back to Ian Scott‘s time with the Marlies at the end of the 2018 season and how much that helped him in his breakout 2018-19 campaign with Prince Albert.

The other prospect the Toronto Maple Leafs are losing is one that hurts a lot more. Riley Stotts was taken 83rd overall in 2018, a third-round selection. Anytime a team does not sign a player that was taken in such a high round is a hard pill to swallow, especially given Toronto’s need for cheap players on the roster.

Even at the time, Stotts was a questionable pick. A two-way centre who had next to no ice-time at the beginning of the season in Swift Current but excelled once receiving a bigger opportunity in Calgary, he was a reach in the third round.

In the two years since his selection, he’s stagnated as a fringe point per game forward in the WHL, failing to see any significant development over that time. His marginal improvement for Calgary from 0.872 PPG in his draft year to 1.06 PPG this past season wasn’t enough to entice the Leafs to sign him to an ELC prior to his rights expiring.

Stotts is still a decent depth prospect, but one that fits more in line with the prospects Toronto has signed to AHL contracts. He could be re-drafted late in this year’s draft, but it’s more likely he plays out his overage season in the WHL and signs an AHL contract in 2021. Given the amount of AHL contracts the Leafs have signed in recent years, there’s a possibility he could return to the organization at that time.

The Stotts pick stings a lot looking back and is one of Dubas’ biggest misses to this point in the draft. Prospects selected in the five picks following include:

• Top goaltending prospect Lukas Dostal (Anaheim)
• 2019-20 runner up in QMJHL scoring Alexander Khovanov (Minnesota)
• 2019-20 AHL All-Rookie Team defenceman Joey Keane (Carolina)

Many draft picks never receive entry-level contracts and the Leafs aren’t losing any prospect of much significance here.

Still, having a third-round pick from just two years ago leave the system having never signed their first contract is one that stings and a trend that cannot begin if the Toronto Maple Leafs want to supplement their high cap hit players with cheap, quality players.