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)
#36 – Harry Nansi – C (Owen Sound – OHL)
#35 – Landon Sim – RW (London – OHL)
#34 – John Prokop – D (Union College – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#33 – Seymon Kizimov – RW (Yekaterinburg Automobilist – KHL, Uchaly Gornyak – VHL)
#32 – Matthew Barbolini – F (Toronto – AHL)
#31 – John Fusco – D (Dartmouth – NCAA)
#30 – Semyon Der-Argushintsev – C (Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)
#29 – Will Belle – RW (US Nat’l Development Program)
#28 – Nathan Mayes – D (Spokane – WHL)
The Leafs under Treliving have focused more on adding players with a larger stature to their prospect pool as free agents on AHL contracts and with late-round draft picks. They may have struck paydirt in 2023 with big WHL blueliner Noah Chadwick and may be hoping to do the same with 2024 seventh-rounder Nathan Mayes.
The 6’4”, 201 lb. defenseman was selected 225th overall at the 2024 Draft in Las Vegas after his first full season with the Spokane Chiefs, where he scored 16 points (1 goal, 15 assists) and 58 penalty minutes in 68 games. Last season, the 19-year-old nearly doubled his regular-season offensive production, with 27 points (6 goals, 21 assists) in 56 games, and added 12 points (2 goals, 10 assists) in 20 playoff games, as the Chiefs lost to Medicine Hat in the WHL Final.
The Hockey Prospect Black Book indicated that Mayes is steady defensively and “shows good awareness overall. He’s not overly mean as he doesn’t chase huge hits, but he’s physical when needed and makes stop down low. When defending the net front, he’s aware of his check, looking to box out and tying his stick.”
The Leafs have until next June to sign Mayes to an entry-level contract or they will lose his rights.
