Scouting Toronto's 2025 Development Camp Roster

This year's development camp is here! In previous years, there's been some interesting prospects to attend, both those already drafted and the undrafted invites. We've seen some of the invites turn into players Toronto has signed to some kind of contract – Braeden Kressler was signed to an ELC, and others like Ryan McCleary or Nolan Dillingham became AHL signings.

So aside from seeing some of the new prospects for the first time, here are quick scouting reports for each of the 22 players invited as undrafted free agents. I'll note if I'm interested in any of them as players for Toronto to sign to either an ELC or just an AHL deal.

Toronto is only sitting at 35 of 50 SPCs, though that will change by the time this off-season is done. They have so few prospects they've drafted or have signed already, they could be more open to giving out an ELC if there's someone that they think is worth it. No spoilers, but there's only one player on the list below where I think it would make sense.

FORWARDS

Tanner Adams – Hudson Malinoski's teammate at Providence in the NCAA, one of their top forwards who I liked and mentioned as an NCAA re-entry option for Toronto before. He is a bit on the smaller side but he already plays with an identity that Providence follows that Toronto will now like – he is strong for his size, he skates and works hard, he forechecks aggressively, and he has some versatility and two-way quality, albeit as a winger. I was interested in him two years ago, I'm interested in him – he's still 19 until September! As a college guy set to return this year I'm assuming there is no contract, AHL or NHL, that he'll sign right now. Probably just staying on Toronto's radar for after this season.

Hudson Chitaroni – A very young player, he's still 17 and only turning 18 in late August. He's a 5'10" centre who played on the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL, putting up 25 points in 65 games. His tracking data shows he's a good passer and really strong at driving transitions, but is weak pretty much everywhere else. I'm not interested at a quick glance, but I may be depending on how he looks.

Callum Hughes – He's 19 years old, going into this D+2 season this coming year, and a 6'1" winger who played on Erie in the OHL, but committed to Boston University in the NCAA next year. He had 12 goals and 23 points in 45 games. His scouting report gives him good grades for his motor and straight line skating, sounds like he plays the kind of game Toronto now likes. I'll say I have mild interest.

Ryan Johnson – A 5'10" right shot centre who is 22 years old and just finished his freshman season in the NCAA for Alaska-Anchorage. He had 11 goals and 25 points in 33 games.

Alex Kostov – Also a 19 year old who just played his D+1 season with Flint in the OHL, despite his name he is a Canadian kid. He's a 6'4" right shot winger, and I've seen him a fair bit on Flint while first watching Sam McCue, then Blake Smith who Toronto signed as an undrafted free agent, and then again with Fellinger who they just drafted. He had 16 goals and 45 points in 68 games, one of their leading scorers. He's more of a slower skater, as you may expect from his size. Not that much interest.

Clint Levens – Was invited to Toronto's development camp last year too, also a Providence guy. He's now a year older at 24 years old, and still 6'3" but still a null factor on offense. Still no interest from me.

Martins Lavins – Another guy who was invited to their development camp last year. He also is just someone who is a year older, kinda big but not as much as Levens, and while he did produce a bit more offensively it wasn't by a whole lot. Still also not interesting to me.

Owen Michaels – A 23 year old, 6'0" right shot winger who played for Western Michigan coming off a career year, where he had 18 goals and 36 points in 42 games – good for third on the team.

Reggie Newman – A 6'2", 20 year old right shot winger who played on Victoria in the WHL. He actually had a down year compared to last, with 13 goals and 33 points in 60 games. He's constantly hovered around 90-100 penalty minutes each season, to give you an idea of his style as a player. No interest.

Alex Pharand – A 20 year old, 6'3" right shot winger/centre who played on Subdury in the OHL. He was actually originally drafted by Chicago in 2023 but went unsigned. He had a career best 17 goals and 59 points in 65 games this year as a D+2 player. His scouting reports give him good marks for backchecking, forechecking, and good off-puck play. The play style makes me wonder if he'd be an interesting AHL/ECHL guy. Mild interest for that.

Nick Rhéaume – A 23 year old, 6'3" left shot winger/centre who played on Northeastern in the NCAA. He had 4 points in 37 games last year, and more penalty minutes than games played. He has also been invited to Toronto's camps in the past. No interest.

Nick Roukounakis – A 21 year old, 6'2" left shot winger who played on Boston University in the NCAA last year, but only in 21 games. He had 5 points in those games. Actually, he has a history of missing time by the looks of it – he played 19 games the year before, and 32 games the year before that, and 28 games the year before that. No interest.

Simon Tassy – A 24 year old, 6'1" right shot winger who played on Wisconsin in the NCAA and had 11 points in 31 games. Another former camp invite by Toronto. He fits the same kind of player as many others, and I think is the oldest at camp. No interest.

Mick Thompson – A 21 year old, 5'9" left shot winger who is still 192 lbs. He played for Harvard in the NCAA last year, and on the Chicago Steel the three years before that. So he's been longtime teammates of Toronto's prospect Joe Miller. In his freshman season in college last year he had 14 goals and 32 points in 33 games, which actually lead the team. I remember liking him when I've seen him with Miller before, so I have mild interest in seeing how he looks in this camp. Again, as an NCAA player I doubt he'll get a contract now but I'd stay in touch as his college career progresses.

DEFENSEMEN

Owen Conrad – Yes, I am very interested and given how few prospects Toronto has picked in recent years and how few of them have even signed ELCs yet, if Toronto likes him I'd absolutely sign him to a deal right now. I like him more than either Fellinger and certaintly Hlacar who they just drafted. I mentioned him in my late round defensemen options, and he wound up being one of the more highly ranked players on consensus lists to go undrafted last week. Elite prospect's 'elevator pitch' for him is "A physical shutdown defenceman with a strong skating base and decent breakout vision. A safe bet for a pro career with upside as a third-pair insulator." Otherwise, I'll just quote what I said a couple of weeks ago:

While his offensive production hasn't developed as much as I think scouts and teams would have liked, he likely has more capability there than other defensive defensemen I've profiled. If he does wind up falling to the later rounds, he seems like he could still be pretty toolsy that can develop into a capable defensive defenseman at the least based on his recent development, and potentially more of a two-way depth defenseman if his offense catches up at all. So another project, but that's what late round picks are.

Hayden Barch – An 18 year old, 6'0" right shot defenseman who only just went through his first draft, playing with Saginaw in the OHL. He split his season between the OHL and the OJHL, with 5 points in 27 games with Saginaw and then 1 point in 5 playoff games.

Andoni Fimis – Fimis is the younger brother of Pano Fimis, who has been part of Toronto's development camp in the past. He's a 6'2" right shot defenseman who is 18 years old and just played his D+1 season split between the BCHL, and the London Knights. Even then he didn't play much, since London was such a deep team. Mild interest, based entirely on how he looks next to the other prospects in this camp.

DJ Hart – A 23 year old, 6'3" right shot defenseman who played for Union College in the NCAA last year. He had 8 points in 32 games. Not a lot known about him, so I'll say no interest for now but I'll be open to seeing if he impresses in their scrimmage.

Derek Thurston – A 19 year old, 6'1" left shot defenseman who just finished his D+1 season in the WHL with Red Deer were he had 22 points in 67 games. In his scouting reports he got strong grades for being a physically aggressive shutdown defenseman. Put him in the same group as Hart.

GOALIES

Sebastian Gatto – A 19 year old goalie who's 6'3" and just finished his D+1 season with Chiliwack in the BCHL, where he was 9th in the league among U19 goalies with an .893 sv%. I am interested entirely because his name is Sebastian Cat.

Semyon Konopsky – Another 19 year old, but 6'5" goalie who just finished his D+1 season in the MHL in Russia, where he was the backup on Loko and only played in 9 games. An undrafted very tall Russian who has mostly been a backup in Russia? That's been Toronto's cat nip for goalies the last several drafts, I'm surprised they didn't just draft him. We'll see how he looks in the camp and scrimmage.

Matthew Koprowski – An 18 year old 6'3" goalie who just played his first draft eligible season in the OHL as the backup for Owen Sound. They were a quite bad team, so his stats look terrible (.866 sv% in 20 games). Again, we'll see how he looks in camp.

Charlie Larocque – Another 18 year old who just played his first draft year. He's a bit smaller at 6'1", and split his time between the CCHL, the EOJHL, and 16 games as the backup for North Bay in the OHL – another bad team – where he had an .851 sv% in 16 games. Same as the others, any interest from me is contingent on how he looks in camp.

So that's it for the invites!

Thanks for reading!

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