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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), but the club under former GM Kyle Dubas replenished their prospect pool to provide the Leafs with young prospects. It will now be up to new GM Brad Treliving to continue that work.
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 and are 25 years old or younger:
#40 Rodion Amirov
Note: In honor of Amirov after his passing earlier this month, we will keep him on the Leafs prospect list.
#39 Ryan Chyzowski - LW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#38 Dryden McKay - G (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#37 Wyatt Schingoethe – C (Western Michigan – NCAA)
#36 Zach Solow - RW (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#35 John Fusco – D (Dartmouth – NCAA)
#34 Kalle Loponen – D (Koo Koo Kouvola/HPK – Finland SM-Liiga)
#33 Noah Chadwick - D (Lethbridge - WHL)
#32 Semyon Kizimov - RW (Nizhnekamsk/Yekaterinberg - KHL)
#31 Max Ellis – RW (Toronto – AHL)
#30 Mikko Kokkonen – D (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#29 Keith Petruzzelli - G (Newfoundland - ECHL, Toronto - AHL)
#28 Braeden Kressler – C (Flint – OHL)
#27 Hudson Malinoski – C (Brooks Bandits – AJHL)
#26 Veeti Miettinen – RW (St. Cloud St.- NCAA
#25 Dmitry Ovchinnikov – LW (Sibir Novosibirsk – KHL, Toronto - AHL)
#24 Brandon Lisowsky – (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 2022 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. In his second full season, Lisowsky improved on his offensive totals with a career-high 71 points (38 goals, 33 assists), as well as 13 points in the playoffs.
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 another season 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.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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