Leafs Top 50 Prospects – William Villeneuve

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.

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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)
#46 – Rylan Fellinger – D (Flint – OHL)
#45 – Sam Stevens – F (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#44 – Brody Pepoy – F (Saginaw – OHL)
#43 – Matt Lahey – D (Michigan State – NCAA)
#42 – Yaroslav Fedoseyev – D (Chelyabinsk Clemet – VHL, Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)
#41 – Cade Webber – D (Toronto – AHL)
#40 – Matthew Hlacar – F (Kitchener – OHL)
#39 – Will Belle – RW (US Nat’l Development Program)
#38 – Cooper Williams – C (Saskatoon – WHL)
#37 – Patriks Plumins – G (Zemgale – Latvia)
#36 – Chas Sharpe – D (Toronto – AHL)
#35 – Hayes Hundley – D (St. Thomas – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#34 – Hudson Malinoski – C (Providence – NCAA)
#33 – Joe Miller – C (Harvard – NCAA)
#32 – Juuso Ainasto – G (Jokerit Jr. – Finland)
#31 – Semyon Der-Argushintsev – C (Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)
#30 – Mans Gudmundsson – D (Farjestads Jr. – Sweden)
#29 – Landon Sim – RW (Toronto – AHL)
#28 – Ryan Kirwan – F (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#27 – Sam McCue – LW (Brantford/Ottawa – OHL)
#26 – Samuel Hlavaj – G (Iowa Wild – AHL)
#25 – Topi Niemela – D (Malmo – SHL)
#24 – Brandon Buhr – F (Union – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#23 – Borya Valis – RW (Toronto – AHL)
#22 – Vinny Borgesi – D (Northeastern – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#21 – Ryan Tverberg – C (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL)
#20 – Zac Olsen – F (Saskatoon – WHL)
#19 – Alexander Plesovskikh – LW (MHK Spartak Moskva – MHL, Moscow Spartak – KHL)
#18 – Roni Hirvonen – C (Karpat – SM-Liiga)
#17 – Timofei Obvintsev – G (Gornyak-UGMK – VHL)
#16 – Ethan MacKenzie – D (Edmonton – WHL)
#15 – Harry Nansi – C (Owen Sound – OHL)
#14 – Nick Moldenhauer – C (Michigan – NCAA)
#13 – Tyler Hopkins – C (Kingston/Guelph – OHL)
#12 – Noah Chadwick – D (Toronto – AHL)
#11 – Alexander Bilecki – D (Kitchener – OHL)
#10 – Luke Haymes – C (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL)
#9 – Jacob Quillan – C (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL)
#8 – Miroslav Holinka – C (Edmonton – WHL, Toronto – AHL)

#7 – William Villeneuve – D (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL)

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a dozen picks in the 2020 NHL Draft and chose primarily to select players either bound for four years in the NCAA or a longer development track in Europe. The Leafs selected only one player from the CHL, and that was defenseman William Villeneuve. Villeneuve was selected in the fourth round (122nd overall) and was considered a bit of a project by former Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley, despite the impressive numbers posted in the QMJHL in his draft year.

After being selected second overall in the 2018 QMJHL Draft, the young right-hander played for Saint John as a 16-year-old and had a difficult time adjusting to junior hockey, going -52 in his rookie season. Things were much better for him in his sophomore campaign, as he led the QMJHL in defensive scoring with 58 points (9 goals, 49 assists) in 64 games and was nominated for the league’s top blueliner of the year.

In 2020-21, Villeneuve got some game experience with the QMJHL, playing a partial schedule due to COVID, with 20 points (3 goals, 17 assists) in 33 games for the Sea Dogs, and played two games for the AHL Toronto Marlies on an amateur tryout.

After signing a three-year, entry-level contract in September 2021, Villeneuve had a bit of a metamorphosis, posting excellent offensive numbers (8 goals, 48 assists in 64 games) while playing major minutes, but also displaying a dramatic improvement in his own zone, with a +60 plus/minus rating during the regular season. He capped off an impressive campaign by registering two assists in a 6-3 victory over Hamilton in the Memorial Cup Final.

In his first year as a professional, Villeneuve understandably had some growing pains transitioning from junior hockey, but he put up good numbers offensively (3 goals, 22 assists in 54 games), and showed an ability to lug the puck up the ice. He put up nearly identical numbers in his second professional campaign (2 goals, 23 assists in 54 games) under new head coach John Gruden.

In 2025, Villeneuve took a major step forward offensively, posting 40 points (4 goals, 36 assists) in 55 games and logging time on the Marlies power play. Last season, his offense took a step back (3 goals, 27 assists in 61 games) during the regular season, but the 24-year-old was a driving force during Toronto’s road to the Calder Cup, averaging almost a point per game (2 goals, 21 assists in 24 playoff games).

After signing a one-year contract extension in July, it was expected that Villeneuve would get a long look towards making the NHL as a depth defenseman, but GM John Chayka indicated last week at the opening of training camp that he suffered an ACL injury and underwent reconstructive knee surgery, which likely means he will miss most of the 2026-27 season.