3 Toronto Maple Leafs Defense Prospects That Could Make The NHL Next Year
The Toronto Maple Leafs, as evidenced by this past season, have a clear need on defense.
This will especially be true with some of the question marks involving the Toronto Maple Leafs crease next year.
Currently, there are four defensemen under contract for next season. Morgan Rielly is one and with a no-movement clause seems to be a slam dunk for the roster.
As well, Jake McCabe and Simon Benoit seem to be locks for the opening night lineup, barring injury. While Connor Timmins is also under contract for one more year.
McCabe is on a sweetheart deal that pays him only $2 million due to salary retention, while Benoit just signed a three-year extension in March paying him $1.35 million.
This seems to have the left-side of their blueline accounted for heading into next year. Connor Timmins is entering the final year of his contract that pays him $1.1 million.
He is the only right-handed defender on the backend under contract and seems to be the only one who will likely occupy the right side as of right now.
The Leafs are going to make a couple of trades and are likely to sign a free-agent or two. But they also have some room to try and break in some of their prospects next season.
Here are three who have a shot at making the NHL next year.
Topi Niemela, 22, RHD
Niemela, a right-handed defender, has been the Leafs top defensive prospect for a few years now and showed that he has adapted well to the North American game.
He produced 39 points in 68 games this past year, his rookie season in the AHL.
He has the skill and defensive know-how to be a solid bottom-four two-way D-man at the NHL level.
He may be a little undersized at only 6’0 and 179lbs but if there is any player capable of working around his limitations, it would be him.
His game is reminiscent in ways of Timothy Liljegren, a naturally offensive defender with average size and above average IQ.
If Niemela can follow a similar path to Liljegren, it would put him on track to take an NHL job this upcoming season.
Of course not all situations are the same but at 22 years old, the clock is ticking for him to break through. At the same age, Liljegren had at least 13 games under his belt and was called up a few times.
A place where he could break into the lineup is on the third pair, likely with Benoit.
There are some difficulties with this as Treliving seems to lean towards a larger and heavier blue-line.
So, he may be stuck unless the Leafs deal Connor Timmins, which replacing him with Niemela could save the team nearly $250K.
Mikko Kokkonen, 23, LHD
One of the more underrated prospects currently in the Leafs system, Kokkonen has made good impressions on the Leafs staff before being called “The surprise of camp.”
By former head coach Sheldon Keefe. Kokkonen’s game is not very flashy, which is what makes him so underrated.
He is a dependable defensive player, logging big minutes and top PK time with the Marlies.
He does have an underrated offensive game and has made improvements in his time in North America but I would not expect him to rack up points.
Through 112 games with the Toronto Marlies, Kokkonen has scored only six goals and 32 points.
As a defender who logs as much time as he does, you would hope he could produce at a more consistent rate. However, 19 of his 32 points came this past season when he played 65 games. As well, he did have a couple decent seasons from a point-production perspective in Liiga, highlighted by a 19 point campaign through 56 games in 2018-19.
The path for him to make the team is not as clear as Niemela, mainly due to his left-handedness. However, he has spent a lot of time on the right-side and on the top unit which could give him an advantage.
If he can have a repeat performance at this season’s training camp, he may force the team to make a tough decision. If not, he will definitely need to show more offensive growth in order to make him a valuable player at the next level.
Cade Webber, 23, LHD
Originally drafted in the fourth round, 99th overall in 2019 by the Carolina Hurricanes, he was acquired by the Leafs at this past deadline for a 2026 sixth round pick.
He spent the past four seasons developing with the Boston University Terriers, projecting as at best a bottom-pair left-side defenseman.
Throughout 123 games, the 6-6 194lbs defender produced a whopping 16 points. His game is built solely around defense, using his big frame to shutdown opposing offense. Made obvious by his production, he should be expected to provide very little offense.
I do expect Webber to at least start the season with the Marlies to adjust to the pro game but I think he has a chance to make a splash. If he comes into camp and shows he can keep up then I would not be surprised to see him in a Leafs uniform.
The Leafs seemed to be impressed with him enough to keep him around the team as a black ace after he signed his ELC.
Like all players, his roster position will be dependent on what happens this summer. More importantly, who the team brings in and what positions Webber can play. If he is capable of playing the right-side, this will make his projection much easier.
As of right now, I expect he will be playing at Coca-Cola Coliseum to start the year but things can change between now and then.
Projecting defenders is much harder due to the rigidness of positioning and of course the limited roster spots available.
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As of right now, the Leafs seem to have three or four of the six spots occupied. It will be a tough task for anybody to break into the lineup especially if the Leafs are able to snag any of their rumored targets in free agency. However, these three players seem to stand the biggest chance of nabbing one of the vacant slots.