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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)
In a 2020 Draft the Maple Leafs went heavily with European and American prospects, Toronto opted to select local product Ryan Tverberg with one of their three seventh-round picks.
Tverberg was the fifth last player selected at 213th overall, after scoring 51 points (26 goals, 25 assists) in 47 games for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens system in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) instead of going the traditional route of playing to the Ontario Hockey League.
Originally committed to go to Harvard to join Leafs prospect Nick Abruzzese, the Crimson’s cancellation of their 2021 season saw Tverberg transfer to the University of Connecticut.
In 14 games for the Huskies, the speedy center scored seven points (4 goals, three assists). In his sophomore campaign, the 20-year-old led Connecticut with 14 goals, finished second on the club with 32 points, and was named a second-team ACHA All-American. Tverberg was also surprisingly in the mix for the 2022 Team Canada entry for the World Juniors in December but was one of the last cuts.
“A local kid, we got a ton of kind of looks on in the last year.” Leafs former Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley said in 2020. “A lot of guys really went to bat for him, especially late. We acquired a pick for him and we like his development path, he's got time on his side.”
Listed at 5’9 ½”, 168 lbs. when drafted in 2020, Tverberg according to Elite Prospects has grown to 6’0”, 190 lb. A lack of strength was one of the chief areas of concern in the evaluation of Tverberg in Hockey Prospect’s Black Book.
“Ryan is weak on some pucks and gets bounced around quite often. Has some natural goal-scoring instincts and is great at reading the play. Skating is good, added strength will really help out his cause down the road.
While Ryan is slight in size, he does show a willingness to enter the dirty areas and he was not afraid to be first on pucks. Overall, Ryan is a talented player but will need time. He is very weak and will probably have a long road to develop into a pro. The good news is he’s buying some time by going the college route.”
In his junior year, Tverberg led Connecticut with 15 goals and after the season he signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Leafs starting in the 2023-24 season. Playing on an amateur tryout contract, the 21-year-old got into seven AHL games, but went scoreless and was injured before the end of the season.
It is likely that the Leafs will try to find a place where the young center can play regularly to start his professional career, but that will be based on how he fares at training camp. With the additions of other NCAA products like Robert Mastrosimone and Jay O’Brien on AHL deals, it is likely that Tverberg will start in Newfoundland and try to work his way up the ladder this season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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