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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)
#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)
The Leafs have continued to be aggressive in their pursuit of free agents coming from Europe, the CHL or NCAA products and may have found a future contributor in forward Alex Steeves.
Steeves played his youth hockey in New Hampshire and two years with Dubuque in the USHL before heading to Notre Dame. In his last two seasons with the Fighting Irish, he combined for 60 points (26 goals, 34 assists) and ranked 10th in NCAA scoring in the 2020-21 campaign.
Alex Steeves opens the scoring from Noel Hoefenmayer.
The 23-year-old took advantage of the Leafs developmental staff coming out of college, working with skating guru Barb Underhill, and quickly acclimated himself as a professional, scoring 23 goals and finishing third with 46 points with the AHL Marlies, and earning a three-game callup with the Leafs in December.
Last season, was mostly parallel to his first pro season, with 51 points (19 goals, 32 assists) in 65 games, another short NHL stint.
According to the 2019 HockeyProspect.com Black Book, the 5’11”, 185 lb. center has some offensive skill and can make plays, but his skating was the big red flag for scouts in his draft year. The Leafs are never shy to take on projects in hopes that they can improve and be useful at the AHL or NHL level, and it sounds as if Steeves falls into that category.
Entering the final year of his ELC, Steeves will have to make a significant move forward to put himself on the Leafs radar, and at this point, it looks like his best chance for significant NHL ice time will depend on injuries and his success as an AHL veteran, beating out the likes of Bobby McMann or Pontus Holmberg.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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