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)
#38 – Blake Smith – D (Flint – OHL, Toronto – AHL)
#37 – Braeden Kressler – C (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
The Leafs have continued to scour the US College, European, and CHL ranks for potential hidden gems that can be developed into useful players. After having just three picks in the 2021 Draft, former GM Kyle Dubas looked to the free agent route to add more to their prospect pool and signed forward Braeden Kressler to a three-year entry-level contract.
The Kitchener, ON native played for Canada in the 2019 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, and debuted for the Flint Firebirds as a 16-year-old, with 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in 46 games. After the OHL shut down for the 2020-21 season, Kressler went undrafted in 2021, but impressed Leafs management at their development camp enough to earn an ELC.
The 5’9”, 174 lb. center missed most of the 2021-22 season with a knee injury, but after scoring 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 28 regular season games, he moved up to the first line for the Firebirds in the OHL playoffs and scored six goals in 17 postseason games.
In 2023, Kressler broke out with the Firebirds, scoring 25 goals in 47 games and averaging more than a point per game, but was injured late in the regular season and was limited to one playoff game. Last season, in his final year in the OHL, he was traded to Ottawa and put up almost identical totals between Flint and the 67’s, and once again made a nice showing in the OHL Playoffs (6 goals in 10 games).
Last season, in his first professional campaign, the 22-year-old played mostly with Cincinnati in the ECHL and averaged nearly a point per game (9 goals, 13 assists in 25 games) but managed just a pair of assists in 13 AHL games. With the mass exodus on the Marlies, Kressler should get a chance to play more at Coca-Cola Coliseum and will have to show his worth to get another contract in Toronto.
