Leafs Top 50 Prospects –  Cole McWard

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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’s Kyle Dubas and Brad Treliving, and new GM John Chayka have had different ideas of what kind of prospects they wanted to populate the organization with. 

As we’ve done on a yearly basis, we will be 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 82 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:

Leafs Prospect List

#50 – Blake Smith – D (Toronto – AHL)

#49 – Henrik Rybinski – F (Hershey – AHL)

#48 – Sawyer Boulton – F (Reading – ECHL, Lehigh Valley – AHL)

#47 – Cole McWard – D (Bridgeport – AHL, NY Islanders – NHL)

The Maple Leafs not only were busy restocking the shelves on the NHL roster, but Chayka and Asst. GM Ryan Hardy also added players with some NHL experience to play for the Calder Cup Champion Toronto Marlies and might be able to step up to play for the Leafs in a pinch. Such a player is defenseman Cole McWard. The 25-year-old played four years in the USHL with Tri-City before heading to Ohio State and playing two years for the Buckeyes. In 2023, he signed a two-year ELC with the Vancouver Canucks and played five NHL games at the end of the season to burn the first year of the contract.

The following year, the 6’2″, 196 lb. defenseman played all but one game in AHL Abbotsford, posting 17 points (4 goals, 13 assists) in 57 games, and he re-upped with the Canucks for one year. In 2024-25, his numbers improved to 26 points (6 goals, 20 assists in 67 games), and he contributed to the Canucks winning a Calder Cup, but he did not get any chance in the NHL and did not receive a qualifying offer from GM Patrik Allvin. Last summer, McWard signed a one-year deal with the NY Islanders and set a career high with 27 points (6 goals, 21 assists) in 63 games, and made an AHL All-Star appearance.

Qualifying for unrestricted free agency as a Group 6 free agent, McWard signed his first one-way deal, signing a two-year, $1.75 million contract with the Leafs. The two-year, one-way deal likely was because McWard has experience in the NHL, he is right-handed, and it will make it unlikely that other clubs will claim him on waivers. This signing provides some insurance that the Leafs do not have to call up Ben Danford if there are injuries on the right side with the Leafs.