This thread is designated for discussing and tracking Toronto Maple Leafs prospects. Feel free to post your own prospect rankings and projections here, or discuss prospects with other users.

Hi Daryl. Thanks for this post. Too often folks (myself included) will just name guys according to their selections. Let's see if we can predict long time NHLers. OK here. is goes

Liljegren and Borgman should be regular NHLers by 2019/20. Just by being selecting high in the draft. LHD Sandin, two. RHD Durzi and Rasemum are expected to be NHLers. Three years from now we know if they have NHL potential or are "Stuart Percy or Matt Finn". Maybe another later round draft pick makes it but, it would just be an uneducated guess on my part.

Since Johnson and Kapanen are already Leafs, what forwards do I see as NHLer? The only solid prospect is Grundstrom, who could be Leaf this season Really I can't think of any others with conviction. Maybe Engall is late bloomer, might be Tishakov...be probably not difference makers. Bracco played very limited minutes in the AHL playoffs, does that tell us anything?

Leafs have a number of goalies , some a little older who have shown promise, but NHL good? I'll say Sparks will be an NHLer and do well.

I really like the Leafs decision to trade their original pick (Dominik Bokk) for a later 1st (Rasmus Sandin) and then a third (Semyon Der-Arguchintsev). While his name is a nightmare to spell (so I'll just write SDA) I'm a fan of his upside. Going into the draft I was hoping the Leafs would take a center to fill what may be a need multiple years from now if we are unable to keep Kadri, I really had my eyes on Ty Dellandrea but he went early, and then Dubas chose to go for Rasmus Sandin over Joe Veleno. I guess only time will tell if taking Sandin was a good choice or not, but nonetheless I think SDA has a lot of upside and can be a possible Kadri replacement if we are unable to resign him.

As of right now the prospects I think will be playing full time within the next two years are: Garret Sparks (replacing McEllhiney), Andreas Borgman (replacing Dermott who replaces Gardiner), Carl Grundstrom (I wouldn't be surprised if he's playing this year), and Timothy Liljegren (replacing Hainsey.

Just a heads up, or a pre-read. I will be doing this by year drafted starting in 2014, with a "tl:dr" section at the bottom. In addition, all free-agents will be in their own class.
I left out a few players, who have little upside.

2014:
Pierre Engvall has impressed me in the SHL, aside from his leg injury which was a fairly large setback he has recovered nicely. A full season in the AHL will help us determine what he can be at the NHL level. However, since he does not play on the PK. It is probably wishful thinking to believe he will have an NHL future with the Leafs.
Dakota Joshua may be one of our most forgotten prospects, he had antoher strong season in the NCAA, and will play their again next season. I do not expect much from Joshua, but he has drive in his game, very similair to Trevor Moore. I don't expect much from him, but he could be a career Marlie.

2015:
Bracco played in limited minutes in his first AHL season, but looked very good in the games he played in. He could use the summer to bulk up and hopefully will be a starter on the AHL squad for next season.
Timashov is in a similair boat to Bracco. A highly skilled winger, that just hasn't found his game at the AHL level. If he puts it together he could truely become another Andreas Johnsson story.
Jesper Lindgren has quietly gone about his career, and has developed into a minute eating defenceman in the Liiga. Not well known for his offensive game, he will play next season in the Liiga and hopefully develop into more of an offensive threat.
Andrew Nielsen in his first year in the AHL, looked highly promising and people were using Parayko as a comparable. After his second season, some wonder if there is an NHL player in him. I think, what I see, and that is he has a booming shot from the point and takes a lot of penalties.

2016:
Brooks has an identical story to Bracco. Dominanted junior and has found it hard to adapt to the AHL game. I expect to see him more next season in the AHL and develop into a offensive threat.
Grundstrom dominated the SHL and AHL. He is still very raw, talent wise and could use a solid year in the AHL to really polish up his game. He really impressed me everytime I have watched him. He brings that grit that the current Leafs lack. He can be as physical as Matt Martin or Komarov, but has the skill to produce and be an effective power forward in today's NHL.
Joe Woll looks interesting. He has done well in the NCAA and will play there next season. I expect to see him develop in the Marlies system for a few seasons before ever getting s chance at the NHL level.
Yegor Korshkov may be one of our most intriguing prospects. A veteran of the KHL, he is expected to join the Marlies for the 2019-20 season. Due to his age, he may get a look to join the NHL club right off the hop. He is a large playmaking winger that can play on the PK and PP. He does use his big body to his advantage, but does not go out of the way to hit players, unlike the aforementioned Grundstrom (which sometimes becomes a human wrecking ball).

2017:
Ryan McGregor plays a very similair style to Hyman. An absolute workhorse. Has another year of Junior, before becoming an AHL.
Fedor Gordeev may be one of the best skating players I have seen for his height. However, that may be the only thing going for him.
Ian Scott, plays on an absolutely garbage team in the WHL. So do not look much into his stats. He does look to be a decent goal-tending prospect, but it will be hard to actively grade him untill he gets a competent team infront of him, which may not be till he joins the Marlies.
Eemeli Rasanen is a physical and tall defenceman. He has left the OHL to join the KHL. If he gets a full time roster spot, which isn't a given. This could be huge for his development. I expect him to develop over there, untill either a top 4 spot on the Marlies opens up, or the Leafs are ready to give him a shot.
Timothy Liljegren has a very impressive rookie season in the AHL, specially for his age. I expect him to be a leader on the blue line next year, with a potential call up near the end of the season for a few games. He has high end skill that makes him a potential right hand version of Morgan Rielly.

2018:
Pontus Holmberg could be another Engvall story. He did very well in the lower leagues of the SHL He is expected to be a mainstay on an SHL team this coming season. Should be better off to see what he has playing against men. Looks to be a smart player.
Filip Kral looked strong in the WHL. I think for his developments sake, it would help if he stayed there for another season instead of going back to the Czech leagues.
Riley Stotts looked brutal to begin the seasl before being traded. Since the Hitman he has become a mainstay on their top unit, being an offensive threat whenever he is on the ice. Another dominant season from him, and he could become one of our prized centre prospects.
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev was the youngest player in the draft. So for the sake of arguement, next years season will be comparable to quite a few of this years recent draftee's seasons. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev has high end skill and talent. He needs to improve on his speed, but very similair to Marner in the sense of his creative abiltiy. I really love this pick, but it is the true all or nothing pick.
Sean Durzi is a smart defenceman who exploded this season offensively. If he shows that this last season was not a fluke, and that he can repeat he should be thrown into a simialir group as Dermott. A year or two in the AHL and then look for him to make some noise at the NHL camps.
Rasmus Sandin is a very Dubas pick. Hopefully, we will continue to see this picks, a smart effective player that passes the eye test and the anayltic test. Sandin is a smart defenceman who can produce at the OHL level and the SHL level. He is solid defencevily and I hope that he pushs for the SHL to improve his development this coming season.

Free Agent:
Trevor Moore is more NHL ready then most like to think. Nothing stands out about his game, but he works hard and could earn a spot as a depth player sooner then later. He is the kind of guy you want in your AHL club to help develop other players, as he leads by example.
Igor Ozhiganov could be that right handed defenceman we need at the NHL level. He had a disappointing KHL season last year, but his prior work shows that he could be a useful NHL player. His main tools involve physicality and his slapshot, which ranked as the hardest in the KHL a season ago.
Calle Rosen really had his breakout during the AHL playoffs and if he can continue on that level of play, their should be serious talks about him taking that 3rd LHD spot for the Leafs.
Andreas Borgman played solid all year, while making a lot of rookie mistakes. He is slow and highly physical. He does have an offensive side to his game, that he needs to unlock if he wants to continue playing for the Leafs. I expect him to start the season on the Marlies and really develop getting top 2 ice time.
Par Lindholm Another new recruit that will contend for the 4th line centre. Had a strong showing in the SHL as an older player. Nothing sticks out about his game, but he works hard and isn't afraid to use his body to help his playmaking style.

My prospect projections are always changing, and for a lot of the newer draftee's 2017 and 2018 each season changes so much.

tl:dr
TML Sage's Prospect Projections
Joshua = AHL Top 9 winger
Engvall = NHL Depth winger
Bracco = NHL Top 9 winger
Lindgren = AHL Top 4 defence
Nielsen = AHL Top 4 defence
Brooks = NHL Bottom 6 centre
Grundstorm = NHL Top 9 winger
Joe Woll = NHL Backup
Korshkov = NHL Bottom 9 winger
McGregor = NHL Depth winger
Gordeev = AHL Depth defence
Scott = AHL Starter
Rasanen = NHL Top 6 defence
Liljegren = NHL top 2 defence
Holmberg = NHL Depth winger
Kral = AHL Top 4 defence
Stotts = NHL Top 9 centre
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev = NHL top 6 winger
Durzi = NHL top 4 defence
Sandin = NHL top 4 defence

Daryl, we agree for the next few years. You mentioned the Leafs taking Sandin over Veleno. At the time I was pissed that the Leafs took another LHD instead of the much needed centre position. Dubas hadn't informed me that Tavares was signing with the Leafs. Still it will interesting to track those two guys and see how there careers progress. If Veleno turns out to be really solid, I lot of teams will regret passing on him.

@palhal @Daryl

Hey boys. This is my understanding of the leafs prospect pool

Goaltending:
Great spread of goalies between Woll, Sparks and even Pickard is still decently young. i dont think there is much worry if we ever loose andersen.

Defence:
For how apparently " Weak" out defence is, we probably have one of the strong D Prospect pools in the league. I expect Lijgren to step into a top 4 role this season, as well as Rosen too. I think i want to see Borgamn stay in the farm system for now just to see if he has long term potential in the NHL. I am a huge Durzi fan and strongly believe he will be better than Sandin. Not a jab at Sandin but I can see Durzi developing very well. I also wouldnt count out Andrew Nielsen for future help if we need some filling in due to injury.

Forwards:
I am not gonna say they have a weak Forward group of prospects. Its just been due to the progression of graduates over the last couple of seasons. Hyman, Brown, Nylander, Kapenen, Leivo, johnsson and soon Grundstrom are all going to be full time NHLers. Now its just a progress of refilling the prospect pool back up with Forwards.
With that said there are a few F that have some NHL potential. Korshov looks to be promising and so does SDA but both are more long term projects i wouldnt mind waitin to see how they fully develop.

Grades:

Goalies:
Sparks: B+
Woll: B+
McAdam: B-

Defenceman:
Lijgren: A+
Ozighanov: A-
Rosen: B+
Sandin: A-
Durzi: B+
Borgman: B+
Lindgren: B-
Nielsen: B
Subban: B-
Gordeev: C+ ( Long term Project but can easily jump to a B+)
Greenway: B
Kral: B+
Rasanen: B+

Forwards:
Grundstrom: A
Moore: B-
Engvaill: B
Bracco: B+
Marchment: B-
Brooks: B+
Timashov: B
Gauthier: B-
SDA: B+
Dzierkals: B
Herzog: C
Korshkov: A-
McGregor: B-
Stotts: B

@Rodzikhockey93

I am also a big fan of Durzi and was pretty happy when we selected him this past draft, I think he has a lots of potential but will take a few years to develop. However, I'm not sure if Liljegren is ready for a top four role starting this season as I personally think it would be best for his development to stay with the Marlies one more year, Babcock has also proven to be a fan of "over-cooking" prospects in the minors so that they make immediate impact when they are called up (eg: Marner and Nylander). This upcoming season I expect Johnsson to be a regular and most likely Grundstrom as well if he can out play guys like Leivo and Ennis at Training Camp. On defense I am expecting the usually lineup of Rielly/Gardiner/Dermott and Hainsey/Zaitsev/Carrick to play out the season with the occasional sighting of guys like Rosen, Borgman, Ozhiganov, and Liljegren. The big change should come next season as I highly doubt Dubas is the kind of GM to resign an aging Hainsey and a defensively challenged Garinder (who would probably ask for to much anyway), meaning I could see Liljegren and Zaitsev with either one of Ozhiganov or Carrick making up the right side, while on the left Rielly will hold the top spot giving Dermott Gardiner's old spot and then calling up either Rosen or Borgman for the entire season.

Can anyone here tell me why Sparks isn't considered a decent goalie prospect? Thatcher Demko is considered a can't miss NHL goalie and yet Sparks was far better than him last season in the AHL and completely dominated him in the 2nd round of the playoffs? He's only 24 so he's not old and its widely accepted that goalies take longer to develop.

I just don't get why no one seems to think he's anything other than a minor league goalie, while giving huge praise to guys that haven't played as well as he has at the level he's currently at?

I think he can be a quality backup. At best a fringe starter, maybe a tandem goalie in a situation similar to Dallas's Niemi/Lehtonen rotation.

Its hard to say, he's big, positionally sound and performs under pressure. I just can't fathom why Demko is touted so much more than Sparks.

Really don’t know much about Demko, but he’s two years younger and apparently has far more upside.

I think they keep Jake essentially the same way they kept JVR for 1 growing year, let Timmy win a second Calder as a top Dman and then next year he will have played 2 full years in the system against top competition. Then he can start on the third pair like dermott woth sheltered minutes learning the NHL. I think by January 2020 our top 4 will be

Reilly-Zaitsev
Dermott-Liljegren.
We will still have the best center and right wing depth, suddenly our defence can skate and pass.

That team especially when Sandin joins could be one of the best ever. Everyone can pass skate score, "play the right way". They will dominate this year with Matthew's and Tavares. As Auston enters his prime the denfese will do the same and this could become the greatest franchise in NHL history.

I have talked at great length but they do not need to trade first rounders, they have all the news so they will keep drafting 31st, trading down getting players.

The Leafs could win, in 2 years the ECHL, AHL, and NHL championships all at once. Europeans will want to play here, FAs will sign short sheap deal to win here (see Boogie Cousins) and they will just keep growing. Dubas could have a 25-30 year run of drafting and developing and the prospects will just keep coming!