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)
The Leafs had only three selections at the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, and the organization was left scrambling after the dismissal of Dubas in May 2023 and the hiring of Treliving. Treliving was unable to participate in the drafting process and could not even go onto the draft floor until after Calgary made its first round selection, and the draft was left in the hands of Wes Clark.
After the surprising selection of Easton Cowan 28th overall, the Leafs next choice was 125 picks later in the fifth round. Toronto selected center Hudson Malinoski. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native was a late bloomer who scored 69 points for the AJHL Champion Brooks Bandits season after being passed over in 2022 in his first year of draft eligibility.
Malinoski finished tied for second in goals (9) in his freshman season at Providence College, and stepped up his offensive production in his second year under Friars head coach Nate Leaman, tying for the club lead in goals (11) and second in scoring with 23 points.
