The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect pool is looking very positive right now, especially with the great play of forwards Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin during their call-ups over the past month. The play of other call-ups like; Alex Nylander, Alex Steeves, and Philippe Myers have been a good sign also.
Although Grebenkin failed to record a single point through seven games with the Maple Leafs, he won himself many fans between his infectious laugh and witty answers in press conferences. As well as his unapologetic physical presence on the ice, he will definitely be back with the big club sooner than later.
Minten on the other hand, showed that he has the skills to be an every day player in an NHL lineup today. He has the defensive responsibility of veteran player and was able to flash some offensive potential with four points in 11 games as a bottom-six forward.
The hype is not exclusive to the show as the Marlies have had a few very impressive performances, especially between the pipes. New arrival, Artur Akhtyamov is looking like an absolute stud as well as Dennis Hildeby, who looks as good as he ever has.
The latter has even had a few chances in the NHL so far this year, and looks like he will be the next man up should a hole appear in the crease. Outside of the net, there are plenty of intriguing prospects to highlight in the system. I have decided the best way to do this is to highlight only a few players every so often, rather than give an update on every signle player who's rights are owned by the Leafs.
One final thing before we get going, I am going to start this off by saying; The Cincinnati Cyclones are bad. The club currently sits last in the entire ECHL with 4-15-3 record and 11 points. The next closest team to them are the Utah Grizzlies with 12 points. The team currently has a -33 goal differential with no signs of improvement. In saying that, their starting goale Vyacheslav Peksa is first up.