Brian S

Svrcek may not be the most highly skilled player I am profiling this year, but he is still very fun to watch because of his high speed, pace, energy and tenacity that seems ideal as a third-line play-driver and supporting winger.

Hillström is a player for people who loved Fraser Minten. He's a big, solid, smart two-way pure centre with skill to help facilitate and connect offense even if it doesn't generate goals and points for himself.

Paupanekis seems like an ideal third line centre candidate with a mix of size, physical play on both sides of the puck, and defense that make him seem like a solid bet as a third or even second round pick.

Lee is up there with Zharovsky for the most purely fun skilled player on my list of draft profiles this year, with some similar but some different weaknesses that make him more likely to be a second- or third-round pick.

Zharovsky is one of the most purely fun, skilled players I've watched this year, but has question marks around the quality of competition he faced and how well you can project him to pro hockey.

Beauchesne is an averaged sized, right shot defenseman who has potential as a solid all around two-way defenseman. He may not have a lot of hype, but he's quietly been one of the more effective defenders in the OHL.

Psenicka made the jump from Czechia to the WHL halfway through the season but has made an immediate impact and big improvements already in his short time with Portland.

Wang will be the third ever Chinese-born player to be drafted to the NHL, thanks to his mix of size and skating and raw potential as a defenseman.

Brzustewicz is an interesting but raw two-way defenseman prospect who played with Cowan on the prospect factory that is the London Knights, and may be relatively unknown because of how blocked he is by the pure talent on the best team in the OHL.

Amico is arguably the best of the big defensive defensemen in this draft as far as his pure potentia. But a big question mark is a season-ending injury that kept him out of almost the entire year.

Schmidt is one of the smallest players in this draft, and the age old question of if he has enough skill to make up for that will likely see him fall a lot at the draft.

Kevan is one of my favourite prospects to watch in this year's draft in terms of pure fun with the puck on his stick, but he has some underrated off-puck skills to make him an interesting swing.

Nestrašil may be a bean pole, but he has the makings of a very interesting new age power forward with a blend of intelligent physicality and skill.

McKinney is my favourite forward in a relatively weak crop of the US National Development Program this year, but he's definitely interesting enough for a second round pick.

The big centre from Quebec is a different kind of player than you typically see come out of the QMJHL, one that I quite like and hope falls to Toronto.

Tomorrow I start my annual tradition of writing way too many words on several prospects that will very likely not be drafted by the Leafs. Let's establish my process and list what I have to come.

The regular CHL playoffs are all over, and the Maple Leafs will have one prospect representing them in the Memorial Cup.

Four of Toronto's prospects are playing in their league's championship finals, including two who will be facing off against each other.

It was a perfect round of playoff hockey for Toronto's prospects that were still active, and now they've all reached some tough semi-final match ups.

Toronto has signed another undrafted prospect to an ELC, and as you may have assumed he is indeed a giant tree of a man.

Johansson went from being a complete unknown when he was drafted to becoming one of the best overall defensemen in his league. This is a breakdown showing his strengths, and what he still needs to work on.

Everyone has completed at least their first round of the playoffs, so I'll be looking at whose team survived and who helped carry their team so far.

We're at the finish line in a weird season when it comes to a set of prospects for the annual draft. Looking at some of the newer players I've followed before I finalize the list of players I'll profile in full for the 2025 NHL draft.

Many of Toronto's prospects were kickstarting their playoff runs, and others were making their pro debuts with the Marlies after signing as free agents. Let's talk about the ones making big impacts.

With the regular seasons over, it's time to look at all of Toronto's prospects that will be continuing their seasons in the playoffs.