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The Toronto Maple Leafs organization has drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Pierre Engvall, and Justin Holl), but the club under GM Kyle Dubas has 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 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:
#40 - Vladislav Kara – LW (Yugra - VHL)
#39 - Kalle Loponen – D (Koo Koo Kouvola/JyP HT – Finland SM-Liiga)
#38 - Jeremy McKenna – RW (Wichita – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#37 - John Fusco – D (Harvard – NCAA)
#36 - Noel Hoefenmayer – D (Newfoundland – ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#35 - Ryan Chyzowski - LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#34 - Braeden Kressler - C (Flint - OHL)
#33 - Nikita Grebyonkin - RW (Stalnye Lisy - MHL, Magnitogorsk - KHL)
#32 - Vyacheslav Peksa - G (Ibris Kazan - MHL)
#31 - Dryden McKay - G (Minnesota Duluth - NCAA)
#30 - Bobby McMann - C (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#29 - Pavel Gogolev – LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto – AHL)
#28 - Joe Miller – C (Chicago – USHL)
#27 - Veeti Miettinen – RW (St. Cloud St. – NCAA)
#26 Brandon Lisowsky - LW (Saskatoon - WHL)
The Leafs departed from their usual practice of choosing European prospects in the late rounds to buy time to see how they develop last month at the NHL Draft in Montreal, selecting Saskatoon Blades winger Brandon Lisowsky with their final selection in the seventh round (218th overall).
The diminutive winger built on some success in an abbreviated WHL season in 2021, finishing tied for second in goals (33) and third in scoring (58 points) on the Blades as a 17-year-old.
Most evaluations indicate that Lisowsky’s best attribute is his terrific shot and lightning-quick release, but that other aspects of his game need to catch up if he has a chance to have success as a professional.
“(Lisowsky is) a good skater...strong on his edges in tight spots, he has good hips, utilizes stick-led turns for a quality weight balance transfer. He has really good speed at the top end, breakaway speed even. The first step quickness isn’t there though, especially in a change of direction, out of start and stop situation, and it might be because of his upper body and his frame.” HockeyProspect.com’s Black Book said. “He only really handles the puck very close to his body, naturally he doesn’t have much wingspan – it’s going to be tough to setup d-men for deceptive maneuvers given what he’s working with.”
Toronto will have two seasons to get a longer look at Lisowsky in the WHL before they have to make a decision on whether to sign him to an NHL entry-level contract.
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World Junior Update
Roni Hirvonen (Team Captain - Finland) – 2 goals, 4 assists in four games.
Topi Niemela (Finland) – 0 goals, 2 assists in four games.
After both Finns registered two points in a 9-3 win over Slovakia on Sunday, Hirvonen was held scoreless and Niemela registered a power play assist in a 6-3 loss to Canada on Monday.
Matthew Knies (USA) – 0 goals, 2 assists in four games
After a sluggish start to the tournament, the Leafs 2021 second rounder has begun to assert himself physically and on the scoreboard, registering assists in wins over Austria and Sweden.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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