While this upcoming season is incredibly important for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they're also thinking about the long-term future of this team. To have a future, you must have good young players who are on the right developmental path that leads them to becoming contributing players for a good hockey team in the NHL.
It's really as simple as that.
So, how does the Leafs' pipeline stack up against the rest of the NHL's? Are they thought of as one of the teams with the brightest future? Or, do analysts think that there is nothing at all for the team to get excited about?
In a recent series over at The Athletic, prospect expert Corey Pronman went ahead and ranked all 32 NHL teams by their pipeline of Under-23 players. Even if they haven't established themselves in the NHL, players on this list can be considered as part of the team's future. So, how do the Leafs look?
The Athletic ranks the Maple Leafs' pipeline as above average
Among the 32 teams, the Leafs were ranked firmly above average but not outstanding. Pronman put them at 12th out of 32 NHL teams. It's certainly a higher opinion of their young players than they normally get, and the likes of Matthew Knies has aged out of this player pool as well.
It all has to do with one guy though: Gavin McKenna.
The joys of having just drafted first overall. Now, we get national media members and experts in the field thinking highly of this team's future -- maybe the highest since the days of Auston Matthews and William Nylander and Mitch Marner still being considered young.
McKenna was, logically, ranked as the Leafs' best young player, with the designation of being a future top-of-the-lineup player. But it only gets more interesting from there.
While others would assume winger Easton Cowan would be next on the list, he isn't. He's actually ranked fourth.
Norwegian center Tinus Luc Koblar is ranked second. The 2025 second-round pick is coming off a fairly successful stint in the SHL for someone his age, but he truly popped off at the World Juniors to show off being the best player on a not-so-good team. Plus, he's a 6-foot-4 center with puck skills. What more could you ask for?
Third on the list, and still above Cowan, is Mans Gudmansson. The 2026 third-round pick is seen as a high-end defensive stopper. Someone who is just extremely hard to play against and is coming up through the European developmental system, so he'll get his chance to play against grown men so much earlier than the likes of Ben Danford, who has a similar profile.
Maybe Pronman is just so high on those two other prospects, but for Cowan to already showcase some skill and tenacity in the NHL at 20 years old, and be an elite AHL player already, deserves some high praise. He's certainly a main piece of the Leafs' future, even if it's just in a depth scoring role, he will score some crucial goals.
It's always good to see someone else think highly of the Leafs' future. And, it's been so long since we've been able to think of good prospects who should be on track to be up with the big club (or making a true impact) in a few years.
Add us as a preferred source on Google