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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)
The Maple Leafs are taking a shotgun approach to their netminder prospects, with five goalies in Europe or the lower professional levels in North America under the age of 25, hoping that one will become the first internal candidate to be a full-time starter since James Reimer over a decade ago.
Marlies goalie Joseph Woll (2016), Russian prospects Artur Akhtyamov (2020) and Vyacheslav Peksa (2021), and 2022 Hobey Baker winner Dryden Mckay are all in the mix, but at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas selected what he hopes is a diamond in the rough in big Swedish goaltender Dennis Hildeby.
The 22-year-old went undrafted twice until being selected in the fourth round (122nd overall) by the Leafs, after showing signs of putting it together in a brief stint with Farjestad. The 6’6”, 234 lb. goalie revealed at the club’s Development Camp after being drafted that he underwent corrective double hip surgery in 2021, but once he returned, he posted excellent numbers with Farjestad of the SHL (1.93 GAA, .930 save percentage in seven games).
“His teams were overrun, yet he stood tall and showed a tremendous amount of poise between the pipes.” The HockeyProspect.com Black Book said. “(Hildeby’s) mental maturity had caught up to his already impressive level of coordination and reflexes, which made him a late-season addition at the SHL level, where he didn’t disappoint.”
Toronto was quick to sign Hildeby to a three-year entry-level contract after the draft, in spite of the fact that he is slated to return to Farjestad for the 2022-23 season. The big Swede continued his solid performance level in the SHL last season, serving as the understudy to veteran Matt Tomkins but posting superior stats (11-9-0. 2.26 GAA, .918 save percentage).
After Farjestad was eliminated, Hildeby came to North America and played in two AHL games for the Toronto Marlies at the end of the regular season, getting a head start on the next stage of his professional career. It is likely that a combination of Hildeby, McKay, Martin Jones, and Keith Petruzzelli will fight for jobs with the Marlies. With playing time a must, the youngster may play full time with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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