Leafs Top 50 Prospects – Ethan MacKenzie

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.

This story is powered by Betalytics — the intelligent platform for sports betting — and by Rude Hockey apparel.

This afternoon's recommended play. Thirty minutes to game time.

Sign up at https://t.co/rvhCW3V9Jd to start your 5-day free trial. Use Promo Code: HHS to receive a 25% discount on the best predictive sports data available. https://t.co/hIt50qDmBu
— HockeyHotStove (@HockeyHStove) July 2, 2026

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)

The Leafs had what many draft evaluators thought was a very successful class at the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, with nine selections after picking Gavin McKenna first overall. After trading Brandon Carlo to St. Louis for a pair of thirds, Toronto dominated the round with four picks, the first of which was defenseman Ethan MacKenzie. The blueliner is a late bloomer who went unselected through his first draft-eligible season in 2025.

A teammate of Leafs prospect Miroslav Holinka, MacKenzie had only 18 points in his first two WHL seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings and showed some growth in 2024-25, increasing his offensive output to 32 points (5 goals, 27 assists). After not being selected, the blueliner took a big step forward as an overager, scoring at nearly a point-per-game pace (22 goals, 36 assists) in 59 WHL games, and caught the attention of Team Canada for the 2026 World Juniors, where he posted five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in seven games.

Elite Prospects says MacKenzie (who turned 20 last week) “never stops working and battling. He plays an ultra-aggressive defensive game, closing on opponents as they
receive the puck, throwing crushing hits, beating down net-front attackers, and constantly scanning and moving. His powerful, active skating enables this high-octane style. Plus, he’s always willing to sell out and take a hit to make a play.”

After four years in the WHL, MacKenzie is heading to the NCAA to play for the University of North Dakota.