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Toronto Maple Leafs Top 10 Prospects for the 2023-24 NHL Season

By James Tanner

TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 27: Matthew Knies #23 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game Five of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 27, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Lightning defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 27: Matthew Knies #23 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game Five of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 27, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Lightning defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Sep 24, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mikko Kokkonen (84)  Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

#8 Mikko Kokkonen

Age: 22

Height/Weight: 5’11” 198 lbs.

Position: Defense

Shoots: Left

Draft: 3rd Round, 84th Overall 2019

Kokkonen played his rookie year in the AHL last year, getting into 36 games, after playing 11 the year before for the Toronto Marlies.  He’s 22 and was taken in the 3rd round of the 2019 draft.

Last year we ranked him 10th, the same as he was the year before.

He probably will still be a decent NHL player, and likely debut in the NHL this season, but everyone ahead of him on this list has more upside.  His skating maybe isn’t NHL level, so his upside is limited by that.  Still he’s really smart and talented and has good potential.

The Leafs blue-line is weak and he was either one of the last cuts or he made the team (at the time of writing, it is unknown which).

Kokkonen is a lock to become an NHL defenseman.  If he was a better skater, he’d have elite potential, but like most of the prospects on this list he is flawed and that is why he was available when the Leafs picked.

Kokkonen is smart, determined, and he does have some offensive upside to his game as well.  The odds of him being a star player are low, but there is a chance.

At the very least, he should be a serviceable player a la Travis Dermott or Timothy Liljegren (guys who, at the very least, can destroy sheltered third-pairing minutes on a top team).

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