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:
#40 – Matthew Hlacar – F (Kitchener – OHL)
The seventh round of an NHL draft is when a particular scout gets to take a flyer on a player who may intrigue them. With their final pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Maple Leafs selected Matthew Hlacar of the Kitchener Rangers. The 6’3”, 205 lb. was drafted as an overager after coming out of the Greater Ontario Hockey League in 2024 and playing 43 OHL games last season.
His skills are more focused on physicality and pugilism than anything else. The 19-year-old scored seven goals last season and dropped the gloves eight times. Hlacar showed off his skills at the Leafs Development Camp earlier this month, when he fought with defenseman Rhett Parsons. Hlacar will undoubtedly return to Kitchener next season in hopes of making progress and getting on the Leafs radar, since he has two years to earn a professional contract.
