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)
#24 – Joe Miller – C (Harvard – NCAA)
#23 Matt Lahey – D (Fargo – USHL)
#22 Chas Sharpe – D (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
Another example of the Leafs taking a swing on a big player is Chas Sharpe, a 6’3… 194 lb. blueliner who missed an entire season due to the Ontario Hockey League shutting down because of COVID, but grew into an offensive and leadership role with the Mississauga Steelheads..
The Orillia, ON native made his OHL debut in 2019-20, played 29 games as a 16-year-old with the Steelheads before the OHL season was postponed in March 2020. Sharpe showed progression once play resumed in 2021-22 and in three seasons saw his offensive numbers increase from 28, to 31 in 2022-23, to 53 points (19 goals, 34 assists) last season. In April, 2024, he signed a two-year AHL deal with Toronto.
The right-handed blueliner served as Steelheads team captain in his final OHL season and has some offensive skills as a power-play quarterback with a good point shot. Those skills were on display in his first full pro season, as the 21-year-old scored 46 points (25 goals, 21 assists) in 63 games for Cincinnati in the ECHL and had a brief four-game stint with the Marlies.
This season, Sharpe will have to show some progress at the defensive end of the ice to advance as a pro and earn an NHL contract down the road.
