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)
#21 – Sam McCue – LW (Owen Sound / Flint – OHL)
#20 – Alexander Plesovskikh – LW (Voskresensk – VHL / Kryiya Sovetov & Moscow Spartak – MHL)
#19 – Ryan Tverberg – C (Toronto – AHL)
#18 – Roni Hirvonen – C (Toronto – AHL)
#17 – Timofei Obvintsev – G (Krasnaya Armiya Moskva – MHL)
#16 – Vyacheslav Peksa – G (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#15 – Cade Webber – D (Toronto – AHL)
#14 – Nick Moldenhauer – C (Michigan – NCAA)
#13 – Topi Niemela – D (Toronto – AHL)
#12 – Tyler Hopkins – C (Kingston – OHL)
#11 – Luke Haymes – C (Dartmouth – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#10 – Artur Akhtyamov – G (Toronto – AHL)
#9 – Tinus-Luc Koblar – C (Leksands IF Jr. – Sweden)
#8 – Miroslav Holinka – C (Edmonton – WHL)
#7 – Dennis Hildeby – G (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL)
The 24-year-old went undrafted twice until being selected in the fourth round (122nd overall) by the Leafs in 2022. Before being drafted, he underwent corrective double hip surgery, but posted excellent numbers with Farjestad (1.93 GAA, .930 save percentage in seven games). After playing a year in the SHL, Hildeby came over to North America.
In 73 career regular-season AHL games with the Marlies, the Järfälla, Sweden native has a record of 37-21-11 with a 2.53 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage, and six shutouts. After an excellent rookie campaign in 2024 (2.41 GAA, .913 save %), the 6’7″, 224 lb. netminder regressed a bit, posting a 16-9-4 record, 2.55 GAA, and .908 save percentage with the Marlies, and made his NHL debut, playing six games with the Leafs (3-3-0 record, 3.33 GAA and an .878 save %).
Earlier this week, Hildeby signed a three-year contract extension. Based on the Leafs organizational depth chart, Hildeby is third behind Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz, in the spot that veteran Matt Murray was in last season. He will likely be the first call for GM Brad Treliving, and this deal allows Toronto to have a cost-effective option to be the backup for either Woll or Stolarz down the road. He is expected to split duties with Russians Artur Akhtyamov and Slava Peksa in the AHL this season, but he will have to continue to show progress with the Marlies to stay ahead of the two young Russians on the depth chart.
