Throughout the season, we will check in on the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects to see how they are progressing. The 2021 and 2022 Drafts were marred by the Leafs trading numerous draft picks to snap the club’s long inability to advance in the playoffs. Toronto traded its 2021 first-rounder to get Nick Foligno from Columbus, while the 2022 first-rounder was dealt to Chicago to dump the contract of goalie Petr Mrazek.
In spite of that, GM Kyle Dubas and chief scout Dave Morrison deserve some credit for sniffing out an excellent young power forward in Matthew Knies, 57th overall in 2021, and NHLers Fraser Minten (Boston) and Nikita Grebenkin (Philadelphia) in the second and fifth rounds in 2022. Two other picks, Ty Voit and Brandon Lisowsky, are typical small and skilled Dubas-era selections who did not pan out. Voit encountered injury issues, and Lisowsky is playing in the NCAA after five years in the WHL.
Here is how the three remaining players selected in 2021 and 2022 are doing.
2021
Vyacheslav Peksa – G – Toronto (AHL)
The 23-year-old was drafted in the sixth round in 2021 from the same Russian club that 2020 fourth-round pick Artur Akhtyamov was selected. Akhtyamov was loaned to another VHL club while Peksa stayed within the Ak-Bars Kazan system. After another season of playing in junior and the lower-level VHL, Peksa signed with the Leafs in 2023.
Prior to this season, all but two games of his North American tenure have been spent in the ECHL with Newfoundland and Cincinnati. His numbers improved last season, with a 2.68 GAA and .904 save percentage in 32 games. With Dennis Hildeby recalled for long stretches to the NHL, Peksa moved up to the AHL and shared duties with Akhtyamov, and in 12 games, he is 4-4-0, with a 3.78 GAA, and .869 save %.
2022
Nicholas Moldenhauer – F – Michigan (NCAA)
The Mississauga native was selected 95th overall and, after two excellent seasons with the Chicago Steel (118 points in 96 games) headed to the University of Michigan. After a promising freshman campaign (8 goals, 13 assists in 41 games), Moldenhauer encountered a sophomore slump and had just 10 points in 29 games. This season, after a sluggish start, the 21-year-old junior has 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) in 26 games for the Wolverines.
Dennis Hildeby – G (Toronto – AHL)
The 24-year-old has put in two very good seasons in the AHL with the Marlies, but has now begun to impress at the NHL level in two long stints with the Leafs. After playing well in training camp, it was a bit of a surprise that the big Swede was supplanted as the backup for Anthony Stolarz by waiver claim Cayden Primeau.
The “Hildebeast” went 5-6-4, with a 2.84 GAA and .912 save % with the Leafs before being sent down late last month when Stolarz returned, but his impressive performance may force the NHL club to move out one of the veterans this summer, with his waiver exemption expiring.
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