Toronto\u2019s pipeline looks a lot different from what it was a year ago. <\/p>\n
Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin were shipped out at the NHL Trade Deadline, and Topi Niemel\u00e4 left Toronto to continue his career in Sweden. In their place, a host of other prospects saw some serious improvement in their game \u2013 and the team got bulkier at the 2025 NHL Draft. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s still not a strong pipeline, but it\u2019s legitimately deeper. The team has options at every position, and while most aren\u2019t going to be impact players, they need as much depth as they can get. Toronto\u2019s focus is on winning right now, but having some legit help either down the road at Coca-Cola Coliseum or marinating in Europe could go a long way.<\/p>\n
Our friends at The Leafs Nation<\/a> have been looking at the top prospects throughout the month, so go make sure to check them out for more detailed breakdowns.<\/p>\n Biggest Strength<\/p>\n Toronto has drafted BIG in the past few years and it might pay off. Ben Danford, for example, loves to get in the way of shots and isn\u2019t afraid of any physical bout. Noah Chadwick and Cade Webber mean business on the back end, too. Recent draft picks Tinus-Luc Koblar, Harry Nansi, Sam McCue and William Belle all love to throw the body and could be potential fourth-line options. Even Dennis Hildeby \u2013 a 6-foot-7 goaltender \u2013 towers over the competition. Toronto has wanted to get stronger in recent years. Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n Biggest Weakness<\/p>\n Outside of Cowan, who has top-six potential, the Leafs don\u2019t have a ton of high-end forward depth to work with. They\u2019ve drafted players who can handle a certain style, mostly in a bottom-six role. But beyond that, the Leafs don\u2019t have a ton of offensive weapons. That\u2019s not necessarily an issue, and it\u2019s the norm for teams expecting to go deep in the playoffs. But that does limit their trade options, though.<\/p>\n Fast Facts: TOP 10 PROSPECTS<\/p>\n 1. Easton Cowan, C, 20 (Toronto Marlies, AHL)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 28th overall, first round in 2023<\/p>\n Cowan has proven himself to be a big-game performer quite often in his young career. Sure, his World Junior showing was a bit ugly. But with 96 points in 60 OHL playoff games over the past four years \u2013 in which he led the playoffs in scoring in consecutive years \u2013 it\u2019s clear he can rise to the occasion when needed. The skilled, hard-working forward is a great passer, loves to rush the puck up the ice and has some good speed, too. He\u2019s set to play his first year of pro hockey, and while I think he could play in the NHL this year, some time with the Marlies wouldn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n 2. Ben Danford, RHD, 19 (Oshawa Generals, OHL)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 31st overall, first round in 2024<\/p>\n Danford has plenty of big-game experience already, having played in two straight OHL championship series. Neither proved fruitful, but he still looked good regardless. Danford is a guy his teammates like to rely on because he\u2019s rarely caught making a mistake distributing the puck. I saw Danford play both sides on the blueline last year, but I think he\u2019s got something going on the left side \u2013 it fits his shot better. Danford said he hopes to be like Chris Tanev, which I think is a solid comparison. He probably tops out as a No. 4 defenseman in Toronto, but I think he\u2019ll be quite reliable.<\/p>\n 3. Dennis Hildeby, G, 23 (Toronto Marlies, AHL)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 122nd overall, fourth round in 2022<\/p>\n Hildeby was called up early on in 2024-25 to fill in for Anthony Stolarz, but the results were\u2026 ugly, to say the least. He went 3-3-0 with a .878 save percentage, and his advanced numbers weren\u2019t great, either. He was much better in the AHL, but still struggled a bit more than the Maple Leafs organization would have probably liked to see. I still think there\u2019s a chance for him to be an NHL backup, but if the Leafs end up extending Stolarz, it might leave Hildeby nowhere to go. I like his mobility and his size, but I want to see him solidify himself as the best goaltending prospect in the system.<\/p>\n 4. Artur Akhtyamov, G, 23 (Toronto Marlies, AHL)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 106th overall, fourth round in 2020<\/p>\n Akhtyamov lit the AHL on fire early on, going 4-0 to start the season while Dennis Hildeby was up with the big club. In fact, Akhtyamov didn\u2019t lose a game in regulation until Dec. 15. But his play started to quiet down after that, and he was often outplayed by Hildeby and NHL veteran Matt Murray. Akhtyamov should have less obstacles in his way in his second year in North America, but he still needs to outplay Hildeby to prove himself as a long-term option for Toronto. There\u2019s some legit skill here, but we need to see consistency.<\/p>\n 5. Noah Chadwick, LHD, 20 (Toronto Marlies, AHL)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 185th overall, sixth round in 2023<\/p>\n Chadwick went from a flier of a pick at No. 185 overall in 2023 to a legit NHL prospect. The 6-foot-4 defender is coming off two excellent seasons with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, including a 53-point campaign as captain this past year. Now 20, Chadwick is ready to take his talents to Coca-Cola Coliseum, where I could see him filling a hole left behind by Topi Niemel\u00e4. At first, it felt like he was only notable because of his size. Now, Chadwick is a much more rounded threat, and I think we could see him play NHL games within the next two years.<\/p>\n 6. Tyler Hopkins, C, 18 (Kingston Frontenacs, OHL)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 86th overall, third round in 2025<\/p>\n This felt like a great pick for Toronto. The Leafs traded away Minten, so Hopkins could be a decent \u2013 albeit lesser \u2013 replacement. In Kingston, he\u2019s a smart, two-way center whom you can rely on in the D-zone. Hopkins will only really be a support player in the NHL but his two-way game makes him very useful. I want to see him evolve more as a dynamic playmaker, but I like where his game is right now. It\u2019ll be a few years before I think he\u2019s close to NHL-ready, but I could see him topping out as a third-line center.<\/p>\n 7. Miroslav Holinka, C, 19 (Toronto Marlies, AHL)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 151st overall, fifth round in 2024<\/p>\n Holinka started the season as a big-time producer with the Edmonton Oil Kings and finished with just under a point per game in his first year in North America. The Czech forward is a reliable two-way threat who does a lot in his own zone. Scouts like how he supports his defenders and that he\u2019s willing to block shots and get in the way of scoring chances. Holinka\u2019s first step looks better than it did before the draft \u2014 he\u2019s still not quick, but he\u2019s quicker. His game still needs a bit more urgency to be more effective, though. It\u2019s like Holinka needs to feel threatened that he\u2019ll lose ice time if he doesn\u2019t make the right move quicker. I\u2019m interested to see what type of role they give him with the Marlies.<\/p>\n 8. Tinus-Luc Koblar, C, 18 (Leksands, Sweden U-20)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 64th overall, second round in 2025<\/p>\n As a 6-foot-3 center, there\u2019s a lot to like about his physical attributes. He\u2019s not a crushing presence, but he\u2019s competitive and strong enough to win out most individual battles. Mix in good skating and good hockey IQ and I think there\u2019s definitely some late-bloomer potential if he can unlock another level in his offensive game. I liked Hopkins a lot more heading into the draft, but it\u2019ll be interesting to see if TLK ends up becoming a reliable depth forward.<\/p>\n 9. Victor Johansson, LHD, 19 (Leksands, Sweden U-20)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 64th overall, third round in 2020<\/p>\n Johansson has grown quite a bit the past few years \u2013 and now he\u2019s a legit prospect. The 6-foot-1 defender is coming off an excellent showing at the World Junior Summer Showcase, where he was Sweden\u2019s best defender. Seriously, watching him two years ago compared to what we see now \u2013 it\u2019s like he\u2019s a totally different player. Johansson was solid in his own zone before, but never really took risks with the puck. He\u2019s doing that a lot more now and getting power-play time, allowing himself to be freer and open with the puck on his stick. He was productive in the Swedish U-20 league this year and I\u2019m excited to see what he does in his third year with Leksands\u2019 U-20 squad.<\/p>\n 10. Topi Niemel\u00e4, RHD, 23 (Malm\u00f6 Redhawks, SHL)<\/p>\n Acquired: Drafted 64th overall, third round in 2020<\/p>\n Once viewed as one of Toronto\u2019s top prospects, Niemel\u00e4\u2019s development stagnated after his first year with the Marlies. Everything about his 2024-25 season was underwhelming, and with no path back to the NHL, he elected to head back to Europe to play key minutes with the Malm\u00f6 Redhawks. If all goes well, this could be similar to the Victor Soderstrom<\/a> situation for the Boston Bruins<\/a>. Soderstrom was once a highly touted prospect, but he just couldn\u2019t make it work with the Arizona Coyotes. He signed in Sweden, played very well and now has an opportunity to make the Bruins out of training camp. The Leafs still hold Niemla\u2019s rights, and if they feel he can be a consistent producer and limit his mistakes, they might give him another chance in a year or two.<\/p>\n The rest: Ryan Tverberg, RW (23), Jacob Quillan, C (23), Luke Haymes, C (22), Borya Valis, RW (21), Braeden Kressler, C (22), William Belle, RW (18), Harry Nansi, C (17), Matthew Hlacar, LW (19), Sam McCue, LW (19), Alexander Plesovskikh, LW (19), Hudson Malinoski, C (21), Nicholas Moldenhauer, RW (21), Joe Miller, C (22), Wyatt Schingoethe, C (23), Nathan Mayes, LHD (19), Matt Lahey, LHD (19), Rylan Fellinger, RHD (18), William Villeneuve, RHD (23), Blake Smith, LHD (20), Slava Peksa, G (22), Timofei Obvintsev, G (20)<\/p>\n SPONSORED BY bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back. It\u2019s time for Daily Faceoff\u2019s third annual NHL Prospect Pool Breakdown, looking at the best all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-64055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
NHL GM: Brad Treliving
Dir. of Amateur Scouting:\u00a0Mark Leach
Dir. of Player Development:\u00a0Danielle Goyette
AHL\u00a0Affiliate:\u00a0Toronto Marlies
ECHL Affiliate:\u00a0Cincinnati Cyclones<\/p>\nBen Danford (Steven Ellis\/The Nation Network)<\/p>\n
Dennis Hildeby (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Tyler Hopkins (Steven Ellis\/The Nation Network)<\/p>\n
Victor Johansson (Steven Ellis\/The Nation Network)<\/p>\n