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)
#6 – William Villeneuve – D (Toronto – AHL)
#5 Victor Johansson – D (Leksands Jr. – Sweden)
#4 – Noah Chadwick – D (Lethbridge – WHL)
At the 2023 NHL Draft, the Maple Leafs were bereft of picks after making a number of deals at the trade deadline in an effort to load up for the playoffs. After selecting Easton Cowan at the bottom of the first round, Toronto only had picks in the fifth and sixth rounds.
With their final pick in the draft, the Leafs selected Lethbridge Hurricanes blueliner Noah Chadwick 185th overall. The 6’4”, 187 lb. defenseman had 20 points (5 goals, 15 assists) in 67 games in his first full WHL season, but really showed some growth in 2024, more than doubling his offensive numbers with 56 points (12 goals, 44 assists) in 66 games. Last season, the big blueliner had another excellent season (13 goals, 40 assists in 66 games), was named the Hurricanes team captain, and scored seven goals in 16 WHL Playoff games.
The 20-year-old signed an entry-level contract with Toronto the December after being drafted and made his professional debut with the AHL Toronto Marlies at the end of the 2023-24 season. Last summer, Chadwick was an invitee to Team Canada’s World Junior summer camp, but was not selected for the host country’s roster in Ottawa this last December. This season with his junior career over with, it is likely that the big lefty will challenge for ice time on the Marlies blueline.
