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)
The Leafs have had a history of hitting paydirt in the late rounds of the draft in recent history, whether it be Andreas Johnsson in 2013, Pierre Engvall in 2014, or Pontus Holmberg in 2018, but it took those players four to five years to develop and gain experience. Toronto hoped for similar good fortune when they selected Russian product Semyon Kizimov 211th overall in the 2018 Draft in Chicago.
The 6’0”, 176 lb. winger scored a pair of goals for Russia in the Under-18s in 2018 but drifted through a series of unspectacular years in the second-level VHL and a brief stint in the KHL with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in 2021. In 2022-23, Kizimov was traded to Yekaterinburg and signed a one-year deal, and got an opportunity to play at a higher level after being loaned to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, scoring 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in 22 games.
Kizimov played only nine regular-season games for Yekaterinburg in 2023-24, but scored three goals in 14 playoff games, as Automobilist reached the league’s semi-final. The winger signed a two-year deal to remain with his KHL club, an last season put up his best numbers, with 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 44 games, but with seven years since being drafted by Toronto, even though they still retain his rights, the chances of him ever coming to North America are dwindling.
