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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)
The Maple Leafs followed their traditional route of selecting European players in the later rounds because of the longer development window. The Leafs had a trio of selections in the 2021 Draft and with their sixth-round pick, they selected goalie Vyacheslav Peksa.
The 6’3”, 179 lb. native of Magnitogorsk is one of a number of netminder prospects that Toronto is stockpiling in hopes that one will become the first internal candidate to be a full-time starter since James Reimer over a decade ago.
Peksa was part of the Ak-Bars Kazan developmental system, the same organization as Toronto 2020 fourth-rounder Artur Akhtyamov. While Akhtyamov was getting most of the workload with Ak-Bars VHL club (their second-level pro league), Peksa started 56 times for junior-level Irbis, posting an impressive 30-17-8 record, 1.79 GAA and .936 save percentage.
Both Leafs prospects were roadblocked by playing full-time with Kazan by veteran Timur Bilyalov, but while Akhtyamov was loaned out to another VHL club, Peksa stayed in their system and posted a 2.34 GAA and .921 save percentage in 40 games last season.
Both goalies were signed to entry-level contracts by Toronto after the season and Peksa traveled to North America to take part in Leafs Development Camp along with Akhtyamov in July, but while his Russian counterpart returned to play his third season in the VHL, the 21-year-old came back to Toronto in August.
The goaltending pipeline with the Leafs is a bit crowded going into this season. The NHL tandem appears to be set with Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll (who is no longer waiver-exempt). The club added veteran Martin Jones, but it is suspected that he will be stored in the AHL in a “break the glass in case” situation.
At the minor league level, Dennis Hildeby played in the SHL last season and came to North America late in the year. It is expected that he along with Dryden McKay (on an AHL deal) and Keith Petruzzelli will split the duties with the Marlies, which could mean that Peksa starts in the ECHL with Newfoundland.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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