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 Kyle Dubas and current GM Brad Treliving had different ideas of what kind of prospects they wanted to populate the organization with. There has been a slow weeding out process of the smaller Dubas prospects in favor of predominantly larger forwards and defenseman that fit the traits that Treliving is looking for
As we’ve done on a yearly basis, we are 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 40 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:
Prospect List
#40 – Matthew Hlacar – F (Kitchener – OHL)
#39 – Rylan Fellinger – D (Flint – OHL)
#38 – Blake Smith – D (Flint – OHL, Toronto – AHL)
#37 – Braeden Kressler – C (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#36 – Harry Nansi – C (Owen Sound – OHL)
#35 – Landon Sim – RW (London – OHL)
#34 – John Prokop – D (Union College – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#33 – Seymon Kizimov – RW (Yekaterinburg Automobilist – KHL, Uchaly Gornyak – VHL)
#32 – Matthew Barbolini – F (Toronto – AHL)
#31 – John Fusco – D (Dartmouth – NCAA)
#30 – Semyon Der-Argushintsev – C (Chelyabinsk Traktor – KHL)
#29 – Will Belle – RW (US Nat’l Development Program)
#28 – Nathan Mayes – D (Spokane – WHL)
#27 – Borya Valis – RW (Prince George – WHL, Toronto – AHL)
#26 – Hudson Malinoski – C (Providence – NCAA)
#25 – Ryan Kirwan – F (Arizona State – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#24 – Joe Miller – C (Harvard – NCAA)
#23 – Matt Lahey – D (Fargo – USHL)
#22 – Chas Sharpe – D (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#21 – Sam McCue – LW (Owen Sound / Flint – OHL)
#20 – Alexander Plesovskikh – LW (Voskresensk – VHL / Kryiya Sovetov & Moscow Spartak – MHL)
#19 – Ryan Tverberg – C (Toronto – AHL)
#18 – Roni Hirvonen – C (Toronto – AHL)
#17 – Timofei Obvintsev – G (Krasnaya Armiya Moskva – MHL)
#16 – Vyacheslav Peksa – G (Cincinnati – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#15 – Cade Webber – D (Toronto – AHL)
#14 – Nick Moldenhauer – C (Michigan – NCAA)
#13 – Topi Niemela – D (Toronto – AHL)
#12 – Tyler Hopkins – C (Kingston – OHL)
#11 – Luke Haymes – C (Dartmouth – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#10 – Artur Akhtyamov – G (Toronto – AHL)
#9 – Tinus-Luc Koblar – C (Leksands IF Jr. – Sweden)
#8 – Miroslav Holinka – C (Edmonton – WHL)
#7 – Dennis Hildeby – G (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL)
#6 – William Villeneuve – D (Toronto – AHL)
#5 Victor Johansson – D (Leksands Jr. – Sweden)
#4 – Noah Chadwick – D (Lethbridge – WHL)\
#3 – Jacob Quillan – C (Toronto – AHL, Toronto – NHL)
#2 – Ben Danford – D (Oshawa – OHL)
#1 – Easton Cowan – F (London – OHL)
In the final player of my top 40 prospects, it is no surprise that we end up where we were last year, with winger Easton Cowan at #1. The 20-year-old did everything he could accomplish at the junior level, and now his next step is what he will do as a professional, either starting out in the American Hockey League or in the NHL.
The Leafs left a number of observers scrambling for information and scratching their heads at the end of the first round at the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, when they selected Cowan out of the OHL’s London Knights.
The Mount Brydges, ON native was finished third in OHL rookie scoring with 53 points (20 goals, 33 assists) and broke out for London in the 2023 OHL playoffs with 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) in 20 games. His late run and output in the post-season put Knights winger on the Leafs radar, who had a late first-round pick and did not select again until the fifth round.
The risk for Treliving and his scouting staff headed by Wes Clark paid off for Toronto, as Cowan had a season for the ages as an 18-year-old, scoring 96 points (34 goals, 62 assists) in 54 games, winning the OHL’s Most Valuable Player in the regular season and the playoffs, being named a CHL First Team All-Star and a spot on Team Canada for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships.
The youngster hoped to make the NHL last season, but the Leafs opted to let him have another year in the OHL and another World Junior tournament to improve his maturation. In the end, it was the right decision in terms of Cowan’s maturation process, since the AHL was not an option, but his regular season with the Knights was not up to 2024 standards (29 goals, 40 assists in 46 games), and he was part of an underachieving Canadian squad at the WJC in Ottawa.
Cowan came to life in the OHL Playoffs and Memorial Cup, posting 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) in 17 playoff games, leading the Knights in scoring for the tournament, and was named the MVP.
