The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Matthew Knies), but the club under former GM Kyle Dubas and current GM Brad Treliving had different ideas of what kind of prospects they wanted to populate the organization with. There has been a slow weeding out process of the smaller Dubas prospects in favor of predominantly larger forwards and defenseman that fit the traits that Treliving is looking for
As we’ve done on a yearly basis, we are ranking the club’s top prospects over the upcoming weeks based on their progress in either the NCAA, CHL, Europe, ECHL, or AHL, and their potential to make the Leafs roster and make a contribution in the future.
Players are eligible for the list if they have not played more than 40 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:
Prospect List
#40 – Matthew Hlacar – F (Kitchener – OHL)
#39 – Rylan Fellinger – D (Flint – OHL)
The Leafs have adopted a philosophy under Treliving and Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Leach; when in doubt, go big. That seems to be the motivation for the selection of 6’4”, 200 lb. Fellinger.
The right-handed blueliner came out of the Soo Jr. Greyhounds program and had two unspectacular offensive seasons with the Firebirds (3 goals, 8 assists in 122 games) before being drafted in the sixth round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
As we’ve seen in the NHL, righty blueliners are a valuable commodity. Fellinger is considered a stay-at-home defenseman who plays with good positioning and wins puck battles. Those are traits that the Leafs have on the NHL roster in Chris Tanev and in the pipeline with 2024 first round Ben Danford, and appreciate as a necessity on the blueline.
“Fellinger is big and rangy. He has a long reach. He moves the puck. He is willing to really get involved. He plays a two-way game. He is a big body who can move.” Leach said. “He is just a pretty big, strong kid for his age. As time goes on with him, he is just going to have to work on his game.”
As with Hlacar, the 18-year-old will head back to the OHL for another two years of development before the Leafs have to make a decision on whether to sign him to an entry-level contract.
