The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Pierre Engvall, Travis Dermott and Justin Holl, but the next step for the club under GM Kyle Dubas is to keep replenishing the prospect pool to provide the Leafs with youngsters who can step up and replace veterans who retire, depart via free agency or are traded.
As we did last year, we will rank the club’s top prospects over the next few 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:
#40 – J.D. Greenway – D (Maine – NCAA)
#39 – Eemeli Rasanen – D (HPK – Finland SM-Liiga)
#38 – Jeremy McKenna – RW (Moncton – QMJHL)
#37 – Ryan O’Connell – D (Ohio State – NCAA)
#36 – Veeti Miettinen – RW (St. Cloud St. – NCAA)
#35 - Semyon Kizimov – RW (Lada Togliatti – VHL / Torpedo – KHL)
#34 - Kalle Loponen – D (Karpat – Finland SM-Liiga)
#33 - Vladislav Kara – LW (Cherepovets Severstal – KHL)
#32 - John Fusco – D (Harvard – NCAA)
#31 - Wyatt Schingoethe – C (Waterloo – USHL)
#30 - William Villeneuve – D (Saint John – QMJHL)
#29 - Joe Miller – C (Chicago – USHL)
#28 - Axel Rindell – D (Jukurit – Finland SM-Liiga)
#27 - Kristians Rubins - D (Toronto - AHL / Frederikshavn - Denmark)
#26 - Justin Brazeau - RW (Newfoundland - ECHL / Toronto - AHL)
#25 – Dmitry Ovchinnikov – F (Sibir Novosibirsk – MHL/KHL)
#24 – Artur Akhtyamov – G (Ak Bars Kazan – MHL/VHL/KHL)
#23 – Noel Hoefenmayer – D (Ottawa – OHL / Wichita ECHL)
#22 – Roni Hirvonen – C (Assat Pori – Finland SM-Liiga)
#21 – Teemu Kivihalme - D (Toronto - AHL)
#20 – Pontus Holmberg – LW (Vaxjo HC – SHL
#19 – Filip Kral - D (HC Prerov / Kometa Brno - Czech)
#18 – Ian Scott – G (Toronto - AHL)
#17 - Joseph Duszak - D (Newfoundland - ECHL / Toronto - AHL)
#16 – Mac Hollowell - D (Newfoundland – ECHL / Toronto – AHL / TuTo Turku – Finland Mestis)
Part of the first draft class under Kyle Dubas, the Toronto Maple Leafs GM relied on familiarity when he selected Soo blueliner Rasmus Sandin late in the first round and Sean Durzi (who attended the Leafs Rookie Development Camp the previous summer). In the fourth round, Dubas selected another defenseman from his former club at 118th overall in Mac Hollowell.
The Niagara Falls, ON native also attended the Leafs camp in 2017 and more than doubled his point total with the Soo in 2018, leading the Ontario Hockey League in points (77) and goals (24) by a defenseman in 2018-19.
After the Greyhounds were eliminated in the OHL Playoffs, Hollowell joined the Toronto Marlies and was inserted into the lineup in the first round series against the Rochester Americans after some injuries to more experienced blueliners, He played nine postseason games and registered an assist, playing on his off side at times and also partnering with junior teammate Sandin.
In his first full pro season, Hollowell started in the ECHL with the Newfoundland Growlers, but was promoted to the AHL Marlies in mid-November after registering 13 points in 19 games. After struggling to get his offensive game going, the 22-year-old seemed to find his footing in the final month before the league shutdown, scoring seven points (2 goals, 5 assists) in the last 12 games.
Looking for a landing spot while hockey in North America was in limbo, the Leafs loaned Hollowell to TuTo Turku in the Finnish second division and averaged a point-per-game in a small block of games, but the news this week that the AHL will begin play in February will give the speedy right-hander an opportunity to continue to grow.
I'm higher than most on Mac Hollowell but if he can become better defensively and stronger in battles, he's got a legit shot at the NHL in the coming years. His skating is overwhelmingly good.
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