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)
The Maple Leafs have adopted a shotgun approach with their goaltending prospects, with netminders playing either in Europe or the lower professional levels in North America under the age of 25. Joseph Woll became Toronto’s tandem starter last season, but the club is hoping that someone like Dennis Hildeby, Russian goalies Artur Ahktyamov, or 2024 draftee Timofei Obvintsev step up in the next few years. One of the trio of Russian goalies that Toronto has in the pipeline is 2021 Draft sixth-round pick Vyacheslav Peksa.
The 6’3”, 179 lb. native of Magnitogorsk was part of the Ak-Bars Kazan developmental system, the same organization as Akhtyamov. In 2022, while Akhtyamov was getting most of the workload with Ak-Bars VHL club (their second-level pro league), Peksa started 56 times for junior-level Irbis, posting an impressive 30-17-8 record, 1.79 GAA and .936 save percentage.
Both Leafs prospects were roadblocked by playing full-time with Kazan by veteran Timur Bilyalov, but while Akhtyamov was loaned out to another VHL club, Peksa stayed in their system and posted a 2.34 GAA and .921 save percentage in 40 VHL games in 2023.
Both goalies were signed to entry-level contracts by Toronto and traveled to North America that July to take part in Leafs Development Camp, but while Akhtyamov returned to Russia, Peksa stayed and split time with Dryden McKay and Luke Cavalin in Newfoundland, playing 27 games and struggling at times with a 5-19-1 record, 3.66 GAA and .890 save %.
Last season, with Akhtyamov splitting duties with Matt Murray and Hildeby in Toronto with the Marlies, Peksa got the lion’s share of the work with Cincinnati, playing 32 games and posting a 2.68 GAA and .904 save percentage. With Murray moving on to Seattle, it is likely that Peksa will mix in more with the Marlies and get more than the two AHL starts he made last season.
