3 Toronto Maple Leafs to Watch For at Prospect Tournament
The Toronto Maple Leafs will participate in the 2021 Traverse City Prospect Tournament this weekend and there are three players to watch out for.
Last weekend was our first opportunity to watch some new and old Toronto Maple Leafs prospects at development camp, but this weekend will the first true test as they’ll be playing in a five-team tournament.
From September 16-20, the Leafs will be facing the following teams:
- September 16th, 3:00PM:
- vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
- September 17th, 3:00PM:
- vs. St. Louis Blues
- September 19th, 2:00PM
- vs. Dallas Stars
- September 20th, 1:00PM
- vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
Toronto will be bringing 26 prospects to Traverse City, Michigan, including 15 forwards, eight defenseman and three goaltenders, according to mapleleafs.com.
Of those 26 players, the team has also invited eight free agents, so there will be plenty of new faces who look to crack an ECHL, AHL or NHL roster this year.
This is an important tournament for many Leafs prospects, but it’s just as important for the coaches, as they look to set their line-up’s for the 2021-22 season. Although the coaches and management have a good idea on who’s going to crack each line-up, this tournament could really boost or lose stock of a few players as they head into training camp next week.
There are number of players that fans will be familiar with, but there will also be a ton that many haven’t heard of.
As a result, let’s take a look at three players who you should keep an eye on at this year’s Traverse City Prospect Tournament.
No. 1: Ian Scott
The Toronto Maple Leafs decided to bring three goaltenders to the tournament this weekend including: Erik Kalgren, Keith Pertuzzelli and Ian Scott.
It’ll be interesting to see if Kalgren plays in North America this year, while it looks like Pertuzzelli and Scott will be fighting for a job in the American Hockey League. Although all three are interesting and will be fun to watch, the biggest intrigue of the weekend is with Scott.
Scott was drafted 110th overall by the Leafs in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, but his pedigree skyrocketed one year after getting drafted. During the 2018-2019 season, Scott won the CHL Goaltender of the Year, WHL Playoffs MVP and was a WHL Champion with the Prince Albert Raiders.
The 2019-20 campaign was supposed to be a monster year for his development but he unfortunately missed the entire season due to hip surgery and he’s only played in six professional games since.
By all accounts, Scott seems healthy and ready to go for the 2021-22 season, so it’ll interesting to see if he bounces back to his old self. Nobody expects Scott’s stats to return to his .932 SV% and 1.83 GAA that he registered in his last year of junior hockey, but it would be a big confidence boost for the 22-year-old if he had a good weekend in Traverse City.
No. 2: Alex Steeves
Everybody had eyes on Nick Robertson at the Leafs development camp last weekend, but it was his line-mate that got a ton of attention after the fact.
The 21-year-old from Bedford, New Hampshire signed with the Leafs in March as one of the highest-touted prospects in the NCAA. After a point-per-game season with Notre Dame last year, many teams were interested in his services, but Toronto was the one who luckily signed him.
The Toronto Star’s Kevin McGran caught up with the Toronto Maple Leafs senior director of player development, Hayley Wickenheiser this week, who said a ton of wonderful things about Steeve’s game thus far:
“To me, he looks like a pro player on the ice. He’s a man, the way he’s built… And he continues to put in the work. So there’s no concerns for his work ethic or his ability to show up every day and be a professional on the ice. He’s very diligent and a very serious guy. I like his approach and I also thought he had a solid camp.”
After having a four-goal game in Monday’s scrimmage, expect Steeves to keep that rolling this weekend.
No. 3: Noel Hoefenmayer
After the Arizona Coyotes drafted Hoefenmayer with the 108th selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the team decided not to sign him, which resulted in him becoming a free agent.
Instead of letting that bring him down, he worked even harder and ended up winning the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s top defenseman during his over-aged season. In 58 games played, Hoefenmayer scored 26 goals and registered 82 points, which led all major junior defenseman in scoring.
After a huge season, it didn’t take long for Hoefenmayer to return closer to his NHL dreams, as the Toronto Marlies signed him to a two-year deal to play in his hometown.
In 18 games with the Marlies last year, the 22-year-old scored two goals and registered six points, which isn’t a terrible stat-line, but he’ll obviously look to improve that this season.
In article with TSN’s Mark Masters, Hoefenmayer said that he chose Toronto for the following reason:
“I think the big thing is Barb [Underhill]. She’s a great skating coach and she’s worked with a lot of players in the NHL especially with the Leafs and turned them into great skaters and that’s the No. 1 area I need to work on. She’s very good so I’m excited to work with her.”
Next. Rielly Injured at Leafs Scrimmage?. dark
It’ll be interesting to see how much his skating has improved since last season, but Hoefenmayer should still crack the Marlies top-six defensive group once the AHL season starts.