The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the early stages of an organizational rebuild under Brendan Shanahan and his management team, but the focus on talent recognition and player development has paid off according to
ESPN’s Draft and Prospects analyst Corey Pronman, who has the Blue and White second in the NHL behind the Edmonton Oilers in prospect strength.
The Oilers were ranked atop the league after finishing 13th on last season’s list based mostly on the selection of center Connor McDavid with the first overall pick in Sunrise, FL, but also due 2014 third overall pick Leon Draisaitl, 2013 first rounder Darnell Nurse and recently acquired blueliner Griffin Reinhart.
Toronto was listed 17th last season but have skyrocketed due to young talent being brought into the organization by trades before the deadline and this summer, as well as adding quality prospects in the last two years via the Draft.
Pronman gave the Maple Leafs an ‘A’ Grade for their 2015 Draft class, with Mitch Marner, Erie defenseman Travis Dermott and Boston College’s Jeremy Bracco selected in the top two rounds. Marner and 2014 top pick William Nylander are considered top-flight prospects and potential core players, but the organization’s strength is their depth in quality prospects.
“That’s been a major directive from management, it’s about the future for them right now.” Pronman said to
WGR 550 Radio in Buffalo on Tuesday. “When (Mike) Babcock came in, he said he looked at the roster and from talking to management that we know this was a long-term healing process.”
AHL rookie scoring leader Connor Brown, forward Brendan Leipsic(acquired in the Cody Franson deal), ’14 first rounder Kasperi Kapanen and defenseman Scott Harrington(acquired as part of the Phil Kessel trade) are also considered “high-quality” prospects, but in spite of their progress, the Leafs are still years away from climbing back to playoff contention in the Eastern Conference and need to continue to add talent.
“If you think that Buffalo is coming out of the bottom(of the league) right now and trending towards the top, I think Toronto is still trending towards the bottom.” Pronman said. “They’re not going to be a very good team this year, they’re likely going to get another top pick. You get one more of those and then you start looking at an organization (that in) one-to-two years that start trying to win again.”
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Earlier this summer, Assistant GM Kyle Dubas hinted that the Leafs would be open to bringing in players at a good value for the opportunity to prove themselves and advance their careers. According to a report from CTV Calgary’s Glenn Campbell, former Flames forward Devin Setoguchi is close to signing with Toronto.
The 28-year-old winger had six straight seasons of scoring in double figures, but struggled with Calgary after signing a one-year, $750,000 deal last summer. Setoguchi went scoreless in 12 games for the Flames before being placed on waivers in late November and demoted to the Adirondack Flames of the American Hockey League.
It is unknown whether the former 30-goal scorer is being invited to training camp next month with a chance to earn a contract, or will get an AHL or NHL contract.
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