Leafs Top 50 Prospects – Jacob Quillan

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)

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#9 – Jacob Quillan – C (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL)

Because of Toronto’s penchant for trading future draft picks under both Dubas and Treliving, the club has been a big player in the undrafted free agent market, which is not guaranteed to bear fruit. The Leafs were able to sign one of the more promising undrafted free agents in the 2024 college UFA class, center Jacob Quillan.

A native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Quillan played three seasons for Quinnipiac University and scored the game-winning overtime goal to beat Matthew Knies and the University of Minnesota for the NCAA Championship in 2023. After posting a career-high 46 points (17 goals, 29 assists) in 39 games as a senior, the center was pursued heavily by a number of NHL clubs, but signed a two-year, entry-level contract with Toronto.

Quillan has the size ( 6’0”, 201-pound) and skating ability capable of playing in the NHL, and is equally adept in the offensive and defensive zones. He quickly adapted to the professional game, scoring 37 points (18 goals, 19 assists) in 67 games with the AHL Toronto Marlies, and made his NHL debut with the Leafs in January 2025.

Last season, the 24-year-old showed offensive progress with the Marlies, posting 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 40 games, but when recalled to play with the Leafs, former head coach Craig Berube refused to give him any more than fourth-line minutes and opportunities, which resulted in just three points (1 goal, 2 assists)in 23 games. Returning to the Marlies for the postseason, Quillan had nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 19 playoff games, aiding the club to the Calder Cup title.

With the addition of a number of veteran bottom-six forwards this summer, Quillan will likely have to perform well in the AHL to get another opportunity.