The Toronto Maple Leafs have some exciting prospects playing in the NCAA right now displaying talent that may lead to NHL futures.
It actually seems as though the NCAA may be the Toronto Maple Leafs favourite league to draft from in recent years. With eight current NCAA prospects, the only league currently carrying more Maple Leafs hopefuls is the AHL.
There have been some great players emerging from the NCAA in recent years include Toronto Marlies standout, Alex Steeves, who was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs last summer and is currently on a point per game pace in his AHL rookie season.
The Leafs system as a whole has taken a few years to recover from graduating their current top-of-the-draft star players, and the combination of Mark Hunter’s weak drafting, low picks, and trading picks to be competitive has seen the team’s prospect depth suffer over the last few years.
Dubas has been trying to improve the Leafs system, and one way in which he’s tried to do that is through the NCAA. Here’s a look at a few Toronto Maple Leafs prospects turning heads in the NCAA this season:
(All stats from EliteProspects.com)