Four seasons into Luke Schenn's career, what do we know?

We know that he probably provides more offensive upside than Leaf fans expected when he was drafted 5th overall in 2008. Without the benefit of virtually any time on the powerplay, Schenn has incrementally improved from 14 to 17 to 22 last season. With 15 points through 52 games, he's on pace for 23 points this year (in significantly reduced ice time). And all but one of those points has been earned at even strength.

We know that he's one of the most prolific hitters in the league. Take the statistics regarding hits for what they are, he has registered at least 150 hits in every season of his career, and was 8th in the league last season (and currently stands 6th in hits this season).

We know that he has issues with footspeed. Whether it's just that he's not a particularly strong skater, or that perhaps he's put too much muscle on in the past summers, Schenn isn't a terribly fast skater. It leads to issues with positioning and he can be caught flat-footed.

And we know that for all the potential to be a shut-down defender, he's yet to show it. The Leafs have given up a significant number of shots and scoring chances while Luke's on the ice, and he hasn't been the victim of a significantly difficult workload that could help explain it. All told he certainly is not ready to take on this role.

So what do we really know? We know that at 22 years old, Schenn still has a significant amount of time to develop as a player, and that as a defenceman, his development trajectory is going to take longer. He's a player who certainly has some warts but he remains a very valuable young player and checks in at #4 on our Top 25 Under 25.

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It's very hard to classify a team as the "loser" in a trade that eventually wins them the Stanley Cup.

I mean, the goal of all 30 NHL teams each year is to hoist the Cup at the end of the season. Teams that are truly close frequently gamble that their time is at hand, and trade a piece of their future to improve their chances that year. When they gamble and lose, the gamble can prove quite costly. But when you win, the gamble is forgotten, because the goal was achieved.

So it's hard to say that the Boston Bruins lost the deal that saw them acquire Tomas Kaberle from the Maple Leafs last year at the trade deadline, in exchange for a first round pick, a second round pick (included as a result of Boston reaching the Finals), and prospect Joe Colborne. Kaberle did not provide the contribution to Boston's powerplay, that they expected, and left in the summer as a un unrestricted free agent.

The Leafs would trade both of the picks they received from Boston at the Entry Draft; using Boston's first and their own second-round picks to move up and select Tyler Biggs, and traded the second round pick to Colorado in exchange for John-Michael Liles, who would serve as Kaberle's replacement on the Leafs. Liles has made an immediate impact on the Leafs this season, and Biggs is a welcome addition to the Leafs prospect cupboard.

But the addition of the 6'5" Colborne could be the one piece that Bruins fans might wish they could have back. Far be it from me to suggest that Bruins fans would rather have Colborne than the Cup, but that with the benefit of hindsight they would probably try and not part with the big playmaking centre in exchange for Kaberle.

Colborne becomes the best big, skilled centre prospect in the organization since Nikolai Antropov, and was voted #5 in our Top 25 Under 25.

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My earliest memories of the Maple Leafs are from the Wendel Clark/Doug Gilmour/Pat Burns era. So that's just shy of 20 years of watching the Leafs, a passion that has grown every day. So the following statement is not said lightly.

In almost 20 years of following the Toronto Maple Leafs, I cannot remember a Maple Leaf drafted prospect that oozed raw skill like Nazem Kadri does.

Now that's not to say the Leafs have not had some immensely talented players in their organization over that time. Mats Sundin immediately springs to mind. Phil Kessel, of course, also fits that description. But both of them were drafted elsewhere and traded for by the Leafs. The best player to have come through the Maple Leafs prospect system, having been drafted and developed by the organization, is probably Wendel Clark. But Clark's game was about a mix of skill and toughness; his skill was evident, but the combination made him a fearsome power forward.

Kadri, as Pierre McGuire coined them, possesses some "nifty mittens". He has the offensive abilities to be a consistent threat on the attack, and the creativity to generate chances out of thin air. As he matures and develops, the Leafs have been refining his game and providing him with opportunities to gather the confidence to utilize his skill, but also educate him on how to succeed against the very best defenders in the world.

Kadri has just begun to scratch the surface of his potential abilities, and lands at #6 in our countdown.

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Even though this is our first instalment of the Top 25 Under 25 series, I feel pretty confident in saying that doing rankings during the middle of the season can be a tough task.

Already during this countdown, we've had one member of the team be traded out of the organization, and no fewer than eight of our Top 25 have moved from one level to another. We've also had about 20 additional games worth of information about these guys to process. So while the rankings reflect how we felt back at the start of December. Nearly two months later, things might have changed quite a bit.

So with that in mind, maybe it isn't entirely a surprise to see Cody Franson ranked at #7. Franson had some difficulties settling into his new home in Toronto. With an overcrowded right side, Franson was forced into starting his Leaf career playing on the left side. But after a period of early struggles, and being outplayed by rookie Jake Gardiner, Franson found himself the odd man out, making matters worse by creating a minor media controversy about his (lack) of playing time, and earning no favours from Leaf fans becoming used to the idea that all players have to earn their spot in the lineup.

But Franson has been one of the biggest benefactors of Mike Komisarek and John-Michael Liles injuries, and uneven play from Luke Schenn. Franson has established his position in the line-up, and could force the Leafs into a difficult decision on how to allocate ice time when Liles returns from a concussion.

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We've reached a point in the Countdown where background information on the player isn't required at the same level as before. The top 8 should all be pretty familiar to everyone reading these final profiles. The players that are left are all players that have been Maple Leafs at some point this season; they're either still with the club or back with the Marlies trying to push their way back to the big leagues.

So with only players left that have demonstrated that they are NHL calibre players, it's about separating actual ability from potential ability. Who of the players remaining has the highest potential ceiling as a player? Who has the highest chance of reaching their peak potential? Which players are young enough that they have time to cash in on that potential?

With those questions in mind, it may not come as a shock that Frattin occupies the #8 position in our countdown. Coming into this season, Frattin was one of just two players remaining to have never played in the NHL but is the third-oldest of our remaining players. Compared to the remaining forwards on this list Frattin also lacks the potential to be a top-end guy. I don't project Frattin ever being the type of guy that a team can count on as a top-six forward.

He projects more into the type of role he was being used in during his stay with the Maple Leafs; a two-way player who can provide an offensive spark when called upon.

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As we close in on the conclusion to our list of the Top 25 Maple Leafs under 26 years old, now seems like a good time to get the input of you, the PPP community.

Tomorrow the series will resume with #8, and will hopefully continue on without any more interruptions. In the meantime I invite you to participate for yourself, by giving us your thoughts on who the Leafs best young players in the system are.

Below you will find the list of all 45 players that were eligible for our rankings. In the comments section, give your rankings for the Top 25. We'll tabulate the results, and when the series is over we'll compare the community rankings to the official rankings and see where you all see things differently. (For the purposes of the exercise, pretend Luca Caputi is still a member of the organization).

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At the start of the Top 25 Under 25 series, I dug up a quote from Assistant GM Dave Nonis. The quote, from this past September, was talking about the necessity, as an organization, to always have prospects in the system, constantly challenging for jobs at the NHL level. Nowhere in the organization has this been demonstrated more clearly than on defence.

Dion Phaneuf has evolved into a veteran defender capable of playing at both ends of the ice, and a leader on and off of it. Carl Gunnarsson is maturing into an invaluable commodity and has taken on any role asked of him. Today we learned John-Michael Liles has re-signed with the club for four more years. Mike Komisarek is... under contract. After those four, three young defenceman (whom we've yet to introduce on this list) all fight for a fixed amount of ice time that is never enough to keep all parties happy.

Beyond them, two more blueliners (Keith Aulie & Korbinian Holzer) have been shuttled back and forth between the NHL and the AHL, biding their time and working on their games to become full-time NHLers. This past summer the Leafs also added Stuart Percy who they hope will enter into the conversation a few years down the road.

In the meantime, another young defender is in the middle of a strong first professional season on the Toronto Marlies, making his case to be the next defender in line to get the call to the NHL. Jesse Blacker has grown exponentially as a player over the last two and a half season, and as early as next season Leaf fans could be seeing him pushing for a place on the Leafs blueline, forcing management into a few difficult decisions.

This impressive rise sees Blacker land at #9 on our Top 25.

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Almost two years ago, Brian Burke announced two trades that came as an absolute shock to everyone around the league, and took a major step forward in transforming the Toronto Maple Leafs. In one deal with Anaheim, he shipped much maligned goaltender Vesa Toskala and forward Jason Blake out of town in exchange for veteran goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere.

The other, more high profile trade, saw a significant number of Leafs regulars leave town. Forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers, and defenceman Ian White, were shipped out to the Calgary Flames in exchange for defenceman Dion Phaneuf, forward Frederik Sjostrom, and a young prospect defenceman named Keith Aulie.

At its core, the deal was about shipping out a number of players that the Leafs did not consider a part of their future in exchange for Phaneuf; a young defenceman who had not been able to live up to the promise of his phenomenal rookie season, and who desperately needed a change in scenery. While Sjostrom was an adequate 4th line/penalty killer recommended by Cliff Fletcher, he was largely inconsequential to the deal. The deal was about Phaneuf, first and foremost.

Yet as Leaf fans would learn, the deal was one that Burke and then-Flames GM Daryl Sutter had discussed for sometime. The deal took months to come together, and one of the key factors that caused the deal to take so long to be consummated was Burke's insistence on Calgary's inclusion of Aulie.

Nearly two years after the deal, Aulie has but scratched the surface of his potential to be a key shut-down defender. As one of the many young defenders currently fighting for ice time on the Maple Leafs' blueline, his proximity to reaching his potential as a player gives him the leadoff spot as we venture into the top 10.

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