Leafs Top 50 Prospects – Sam McCue

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)

McCue was selected with the middle of the Leafs three seventh-round picks at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas. The Sudbury, ON native struggled in his first season with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes, with one assist in 33 games, but made some strides in his draft year, scoring 11 goals in 34 games with the Petes before being dealt to Owen Sound, where he posted similar numbers (12 goals in 34 games).

The 20-year-old blossomed in 2024-25 with the Attack and with Flint, after being traded for the second year in a row. Between the two clubs, he scored 36 goals in 55 games, but scored at almost a goal-per-game pace with the Firebirds (18 goals in 20 games). Last season, McCue played for his fourth and fifth OHL clubs, starting the season with the Brantford Bulldogs and finishing with the Ottawa 67’s. His offensive totals dropped significantly, posting 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists) in 53 games.

Toronto would have lost McCue’s rights in June, but he is opting to head to the NCAA and is committed to the University of Vermont next season.