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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/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)
The Toronto Maple Leafs once again displayed their penchant under Kyle Dubas for recognizing players with a high level of skill at the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver, when they selected winger Nick Robertson late in the second round.
The Leafs did not have a first-round pick after trading it to the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Jake Muzzin and used their top pick at #53 overall to select one of the youngest players available in the 2019 draft class.
The younger brother of Dallas Stars scorer Jason, Robertson was a junior linemate of 2018 draftee Semyon Der-Argushintsev.
Robertson is extremely skilled, an excellent passer, and is adept at creating offensive chances at one end and harassing attacking players at the other. As a 17-year-old, he scored over a point per game (27 goals, 28 assists) in 54 games and exploded last season, leading the OHL with 55 goals, making an impression with a five-point performance for Team USA at the 2020 IIHF World Junior, and capping off a great year playing four games in the Stanley Cup play-in round vs. Columbus.
The 22-year-old would normally have been relegated to playing another year in junior in 202, but with the OHL shut down, Robertson had the benefit of playing against older professionals at two levels, scoring 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 21 games for the Marlies and six NHL games for the Leafs.
The concerns and questions with Robertson are his size, durability, and skating ability. Robertson has shown flashes of being a player that could be a very effective scorer in the NHL, but early in his pro career, he appeared to be easy to knock off the puck.
The 5’9”, 164 forward was injured in his first Leafs game in 2021 against the Ottawa Senators, the following year after not making the Leafs out of training camp, Robertson suffered a broken leg in his second AHL game. After returning in February, he scored 16 goals in 28 games with the Marlies and played 10 games with the Leafs at the end of the season, scoring his first NHL goal.
Robertson built up his upper and lower body going into last season in hopes of cracking the Toronto roster, and after a brief stint with the Marlies he was recalled and scored two goals against his brother’s club, but he registered only three assists in limited minutes over 14 games before suffering a season-ending dislocated shoulder on December 8 vs. Los Angeles.
Entering the final year of his rookie contract, the Leafs would love nothing more than for Robertson to make the club and contribute. His talent is not in question, it is whether he can stay healthy. In the three seasons where gaining experience is the most important thing, the young winger has played only 82 AHL and NHL games.
It is likely that with a waiver exemption, Robertson will begin the season with the Marlies, but the door is not closed to him being a difference maker.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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