Leafs Top Prospects – #25 Ryan Kirwan

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)

#27 –  Borya Valis – RW (Prince George – WHL, Toronto – AHL)

#26 – Hudson Malinoski – C (Providence – NCAA)

#25 – Ryan Kirwan – F (Arizona State – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)

Because of Toronto’s penchant for trading future draft picks under both Dubas and Treliving, the club continues to be a big player in the undrafted free agent market. After years of adding smaller, skilled players, the Leafs are now opting for bigger players with a physical edge, like winger Ryan Kirwan. 

The Leafs are willing to roll the dice on late-blooming players in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough. Kirwan may be the best example of that. A native of DeWitt, NY, the 6’3”, 205 lb. winger scored 20+ goals in two seasons in the USHL before heading to Penn State University. His freshman and junior years were a respectable 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists), sandwiching a sluggish sophomore season.

Entering his senior year, Kirwan used the NCAA transfer portal and shifted to Arizona State University,  where he led the Sun Devils with 39 points and finished third in the nation with 26 goals. After the completion of his college career, the 23-year-old signed a two-year AHL deal with Toronto and played two games for the Marlies at the end of last season. 

The question yet to be answered is whether Kirwan’s scoring touch and physicality can translate from college to the professional game. It is surprising that the Leafs were able to get him on an AHL deal instead of an NHL entry-level deal, but if he has success with the Marlies, a contract with the Leafs is sure to follow.