Toronto Maple Leafs: Fraser Minten Traded to Saskatoon

Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect Fraser Minten has been traded from the Kamloops Blazers to the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL for forward Jordan Keller, two first-round picks (2024 & 2025), and a fourth-round pick in 2024.

Minten had a promising start to the season playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs in four regular season games before being sent back to junior.

In those four games, he did not register any points but he outplayed half of the forwards on the team and had an over 50% expected goals rating.

Despite playing better than some of his teammates Minten found himself sitting in important moments of the game when Keefe would shorten his bench. He became the most expendable player on the roster and was sent back to the WHL at the end of October.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Fraser Minten Traded to Saskatoon

Minten had a dominant start to his WHL season scoring 10 points in 7 games ( 3 goals and 7 assists) and the Blazers named him captain on November 5th.

Despite the strong start for Minten, Kamloops sit 21st out of 22 teams in the WHL with a 5-13-2 record through 22 games. Safe to say the Blazers will not be making the WHL playoffs or the Memorial Cup unless they have a miraculous run.

Saskatoon on the other hand currently sits fourth in the WHL with a 15-8-0 record and are primed for a run in the WHL playoffs, as of now. With the addition of Minten, they will now have five players on their team averaging over a point per game, one being Maple Leafs prospect Brandon Lisowsky.

Lisowsky has 13 goals and 13 assists in 23 games with the Blazers this year. He has been a threat on the powerplay and with the addition of a playmaker like Minten, Lisowsky’s numbers are only expected to rise. Let’s hope the two Toronto Maple Leafs prospects can build some chemistry playing on the same line.

An upcoming Blades game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes will now feature three Maple Leafs prospects with both Minten and Lisowsky playing for Saskatoon and Noah Chadwick playing for the Hurricanes. If you do not usually tune into WHL hockey, that game will be a must-watch for all Toronto Maple Leafs fans.

As he gets set to hit the ice with Saskatoon, the stage for heightened excitement in the WHL holds the promise of a thrilling journey for Minten and his new team.

The Maple Leafs organization will undoubtedly keep a close eye on the progress of their prospects as they contribute to the Blades’ quest for a Memorial Cup.