*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.
*******
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 focus of prospect development under former GM Kyle Dubas and the last few seasons under Director of Amateur Scouting Wes Clark seemed to be on skill players, while GM Brad Treliving has begun to transition with a focus on young players with size.
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 contribute in the future.
Youngsters like Bobby McMann, Joseph Woll, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and top-rated Matthew Knies have graduated, but here is a list of players eligible for the list who have not played more than 40 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:
#40 - Wyatt Schingoethe – C (Western Michigan – NCAA)
#39 - Zach Solow - RW (Toronto - AHL)
#38 - Semyon Kizimov - RW -(Yekaterinberg - KHL)
#37 - Robert Mastrosimone – LW. (Toronto – AHL
#36 - Marko Sikic – RW (Sarnia – OHL, Newfoundland/Norfolk – ECHL)
#35 – Jacob Bengtsson – D (Boston College – NCAA)
#34 – Nicolas Mattinen – D (Straubling – Germany-DEL)
#33 – Matthew Barbolini – F (Miami(OH) – NCAA, Toronto – AHL)
#32 – Nathan Mayes – D (Spokane – WHL)
#31 – Braeden Kressler – C (Flint/Ottawa - OHL)
The Leafs have continued to scour the US College, European, and CHL ranks for potential hidden gems that can be developed into useful players. After having just three picks in the 2021 Draft, former GM Kyle Dubas looked to the free agent route to add more to their prospect pool and signed forward Braeden Kressler to a three-year entry-level contract.
The Kitchener, ON native played for Canada in the 2019 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, and debuted for the Flint Firebirds as a 16-year-old, with 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in 46 games. After the OHL shut down for the 2020-21 season, Kressler went undrafted in 2021, but impressed Leafs management at their development camp enough to earn an ELC.
The 5’9”, 174 lb. center missed most of the 2021-22 season with a knee injury, but after scoring 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 28 regular season games, he moved up to the first line for the Firebirds in the OHL playoffs and scored six goals in 17 postseason games.
In 2023, Kressler broke out with the Firebirds, scoring 25 goals in 47 games and averaging more than a point per game, but was injured late in the regular season and was limited to one playoff game. Last season, in his final year in the OHL, the 21-year-old was traded to Ottawa and put up almost identical totals between Flint and the 67’s, and once again made a nice showing in the OHL Playoffs (6 goals in 10 games).
The Hockey Prospect Black Book says that Kressler “is elusive with and without the puck, shows great acceleration and explosiveness as a skater, flashes a great first step, the ability to fight in battles as he plays bigger than his size and has no fear”.
It is expected that Kressler will get a good chance at breaking into the pros with the AHL Marlies, but could start off in the ECHL if playing time is a factor.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»