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The Toronto Maple Leafs open their season as they usually do against their archrival Montreal Canadiens. Last season, the year started off on a sour note with a loss at the Bell Centre, but the Leafs are hoping to begin their 107th season on a winning note at Scotiabank Arena.
The club made some final adjustments to their roster, sending 2023 first-round pick Easton Cowan back to the London Knights of the OHL, and forward Bobby McMann cleared waivers at 2 p.m. It is unknown whether the Leafs will send him down to the AHL or keep him as an extra forward, but they can do so without risk of losing him.
Ilya Samsonov will get the start for Toronto and Jake Allen will be in goal for Montreal. Leafs rookies Matthew Knies and Fraser Minten will play on the third line with Calle Jarnkrok, and the line combos will be the same as they were for most of camp, with Tyler Bertuzzi playing the left side with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Max Domi playing with John Tavares and William Nylander, and Noah Gregor playing with David Kampf and Ryan Reaves.
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/or 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)
#23 Dennis Hildeby - G (Farjestad - SHL, Toronto - AHL)
#22 Ryan Tverberg – C (Connecticut – NCAA, Toronto - AHL)
#21 Vladislav Kara - LW (Podolsk Vityaz - KHL)
#20 Semyon Der-Argushintsev - C (Toronto - AHL)
#19 Nikita Grebyonkin - RW (Khabarovsk/Magnitogorsk - KHL)
#18 Easton Cowan – LW (London – OHL)
#17 Artur Akhtyamov – G (Neftyanik Almetievsk – VHL)
#16 Vyacheslav Peksa - G (Ak-Bars Kazan - MHL/VHL/KHL)
#15 Michael Koster - D (Minnesota - NCAA)
#14 Ty Voit – RW (Sarnia – OHL)
#13 Fraser Minten - C (Kamloops - WHL)
#12 William Villeneuve – D (Toronto - AHL)
#11 Alex Steeves – C (Toronto – AHL/NHL)
#10 Joe Miller – C (Harvard - NCAA)
#9 Nick Moldenhauer - RW (Chicago - USHL)
#8 Nick Abruzzese – C (Toronto – AHL/NHL)
#7 Bobby McMann – F (Toronto – AHL/NHL)
#6 Roni Hirvonen – C (HIFK Helsinki – Finland SM-Liiga)
#5 Nick Robertson – LW (Toronto AHL/NHL)
#4 Pontus Holmberg – LW/C (Toronto - AHL/NHL)
#3 Joseph Woll – G (Toronto AHL/NHL)
#2 Topi Niemela – D (Karpat – Finland SM-Liiga / Toronto – AHL)
#1 Matthew Knies - LW (Minnesota - NCAA, Toronto - NHL)
The Toronto Maple Leafs had only three picks in the 2021 NHL Draft after dealing their first and fourth to Columbus for Nick Foligno, and third-rounder to Calgary for goalie David Rittich. With their first pick at #57 overall, the Leafs selected big winger Matthew Knies.
The 6’3”, 205 lb winger was born in Arizona and played most of his youth hockey in the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes chain before two seasons in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm. Knies posted two straight 40+ point seasons and was committed to the University of Minnesota when the Leafs drafted him.
The Hockey Prospect Black Book gave the Phoenix, AZ native an A grade and ranked 13th overall on their 2021 Draft Prospect list, calling the 6’3”, 210 lb. winger “a dynamic power forward with one of the most extensive tool kits out of any draft-eligible player featured in this class.”
Knies made an impressive showing at the World Junior Summer Showcase with seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) in six games, putting him on the track for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships. The tournament was suspended less than a week in, but the big winger’s size and speed along with his success as a freshman with Minnesota put him on the radar for the NHL-less Olympic games in Beijing, where he scored a goal and assist in four games for Team USA.
Knies finished his college season strong and his scoring (33 points in 33 games) helped the Golden Gophers reach the Frozen Four, but he chose not to turn professional and join the Leafs before their seven-game first round loss to Tampa. The young forward said during the 2022 summer development camp in Toronto that he did not feel his game was advanced enough to play in the NHL.
Knies returned to Minnesota for his sophomore campaign as a more complete player, playing on a powerhouse line with Arizona top pick Logan Cooley, scoring 21 goals and reaching the NCAA Championship game. The 20-year-old signed his ELC with the Leafs and did not appear out of place in three regular season games or in seven playoff games, where he scored four points before suffering an upper-body injury.
His play in training camp has only confirmed Knies position as the club’s best forward prospect since Auston Matthews was selected in 2016, and it is likely that he will be in the mix for the Calder Trophy this season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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