Youngsters have begun to have an impact on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies, with 2016 top pick Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen and others starting the 2016-17 season on the right foot.
Besides Matthews, the Leafs added 10 players in the 2016 NHL Draft , who join other players in the pipeline from previous drafts currently playing in North America or Europe.
Here is an update on Toronto prospects currently playing in the OHL, QMJHL, WHL, NCAA and Europe:
2015 Draft
Bracco has been a house on fire since being returned to the Kitchener Rangers earlier this month and the 2015 second rounder was named the OHL Player of the Week on Monday.
Here's Jeremy Bracco's 5-point night over Guelph on October 10th, a big reason why he was named OHL Player of the Week: pic.twitter.com/mSZwFdxnUG
Bracco is tied for third in OHL scoring with 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in just six games and scored five points (3 goals and 2 assists) against the Guelph Storm on last Monday.
The 19-year-old winger helped Latvia qualify for the 2017 World Junior and went to the Memorial Cup Final in his rookie season with Rouyn-Noranda.
After performing well at the rookie tournament in London last month, Dzierkals was sent back to the QMJHL early in training camp, but has gotten off to a good start with the Huskies. Dzierkals scored a pair of goals in a 6-2 win over Drummondville on Saturday and leads his club with 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists) in seven games.
The 19-year-old defenseman is a swift skater and has six assists in 11 games for MODO , who is playing in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan this season after they were relegated from the Swedish Hockey League.
Lindgren is on the radar for Team Sweden for the upcoming World Junior.
After winning a Memorial Cup with Oshawa in 2015, Desrocher was traded to Kingston and had a career-best 46 points with the Generals/Frontenacs last season. The 20-year-old was eligible to play in the American Hockey League but Toronto did not sign him to an entry-level contract and decided to send Desrochers back to the OHL for his overage year.
The 19-year-old Russian winger was one of the more impressive performers at the Leafs rookie tournament in London and used that as a springboard for a great start to his fourth OHL season in Sarnia.
With Pavel Zacha gone to New Jersey and Travis Konecny with Philadelphia, Korostelev has to pick up the slack and has done so, leading the Sting with 13 points and tied for the OHL lead with 10 goals.
2014 Draft
The 20-year-old Piccinich begins his second OHL season with the Memorial Cup champ London Knights after a season at Boston University. The Leafs will have to make a decision on signing the 2014 fourth rounder before next June or he will re-enter the NHL Draft.
Piccinich had two assists in a 4-0 win over Windsor on Friday and has five points (2G, 3A) in six games.
The rugged Joshua is starting his sophomore season at Ohio State, coming off a 17-point year as a freshman.
The 20-year-old winger has two assists in three games for the Buckeyes, including a helper in a 1-1 tie against Miami(OH) on Saturday.
The younger Vesey struggled in his sophomore season at the University of Maine, scoring only 11 points after tallying 23 as a freshman, but is off to a good start with the Black Bears. Nolan had three assists in a 5-1 win over RPI on October and has a point in each of Maine’s four games.
The Leafs long line of Swedish seventh rounders continues with Engvall, who scored 12 goals for the second-tier Mora IK last season and leads the club with five goals in 11 games this season, including a four-goal performance in a 7-5 loss to Vastervik on September 23.
2013 Draft
The 21-year-old Herzog played five games with the Toronto Marlies at the end of the 2014 season, but played the last two seasons in Switzerland, including last season as a teammate of Auston Matthews.
The Swiss winger signed a three-year contract extension with the ZSC Lions, which likely signifies that he is no longer in the Leafs plans.
2012 Draft
Toninato plays a rugged game and has scoring ability (led Minnesota-Duluth with 15 goals last season). The 22-year-old enters his senior year as team captain of the Bulldogs and has two assists in six games.
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The arbitration hearing for the buyout of defenseman Jared Cowen began in New York on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old defenseman was acquired from the Ottawa Senators along with forwards Milan Michalek, Colin Greening, Tobias Lindberg and a second round pick in the Dion Phaneuf deal last February and was immediately placed on IR for hip tightness, but later was cleared medically before being placed on waivers.
Cowen was informed by Toronto that he would not play for them and that the club would buy him out after the season.
If it is determined that the Leafs were within their rights, the former Senators first rounder will receive one-third of his 2016-17 salary (for buyouts of players 25 and under) spread over the next two seasons ($750,000 in 16-17 & 17-18) while the Leafs clear his $3.1 Million cap hit for this season and gain a $650,000 cap credit.
If the arbitrator rules in Cowen’s favor, he cannot be bought out because of his injury status and will remain on the roster. The defenseman will then collect his full $4.5 Million salary for the final year of his contract.
Cowen is not expected to be healthy until after the NHL All-Star break, which means that Toronto will place him on injured reserve or LTIR to start the season.
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