The Toronto Maple Leafs have been suffering from a rash of injuries lately. With Captain Auston Matthews and bottom-six staple David Kampf both sidelined, Toronto is in the unenviable position of sliding Pontus Holmberg into their top-six as the second-line centre.
With this sudden depletion of an already weak centre core, the conversation around the trade market is once again swirling around the team. With a lack of premier picks from all-in moves at the trade deadline, most of Toronto’s bargaining chips will lie in their underrated prospect pool.
Today, I’ll be creating my version of Nick Wright’s original Tiers List and slotting the organization’s prospects into the tier that represents what they would yield in a trade.
Tier 8: Future considerations
| Hudson Malinoski | Wyatt Schingoethe | Semyon Der-Arguchintsev | Joe Miller | John Fusco |
This tier of prospects is exactly what it sounds like. As much as I’m a fan of Malinoski and SDA’s games, there are not many scenarios where I see any of these five players suiting up for the Blue and White. There are just not enough translatable skills, or in SDA’s case, the player’s commitments on the ice are tied to another league for the foreseeable future. Maybe we see them added into a deal as a throwaway piece, but on their own, the Leafs would be lucky to see an offer that’s not future considerations.
Tier 7: Sponsored by Boston Pizza
| Matt Lahey | Nathan Mayes | Sam McCue | Cade Webber |
As you may already know, this is a reference to Brad Treliving’s father who owns Boston Pizza. What is true is all four of these prospects fit exactly what the Toronto Maple Leaf GM values, hence the Boston Pizza stamp of approval.
All of these guys are behemoths, all play a less dynamic game but can all eat minutes in a defensive role in their respective leagues. Cade Webber notched Carolina a fourth-round pick last season after a minute-munching season at BU in the NCAA and Sam McCue has had a surprisingly productive season offensively with Owen Sound. There are plenty of teams across the league that would at least be intrigued by these players and while they’re likely not going to fetch you an amazing return, they’re certainly a more attractive option as an add-in to a larger deal.
Tier 6: Starting to see the vision
| William Villeneuve | Ty Voit | Victor Johansson | Alexander Plesovskikh |
If you look really hard at each of these prospects, you could see full-time NHLers in all of them.
William Villeneuve with his passing ability and offensive production in juniors. Imagine if he could just turn down the panic decisions in his own end. Ty Voit with his eye-popping play driving and heliocentric ability on the puck. What if he could just stay healthy? Victor Johansson is just maybe 25 pounds away from being a legit prospect after a red-hot start in the J20 Nationell this year. Alexander Plesovskikh who’s got some nice tools but plays a straight-line game that lacks refinement.
With these guys, it’s more about the vision than the body of work. For GMs who see the vision for these players, there’s a real shot they could be a decently valuable piece in a trade, and not just a throw-in for some GMs you might as well stick these guys in the Future Considerations tier.
Tier 5: Hauer you Doing?
| Nick Moldenhauer |
I had such high hopes heading into the season for Moldenhauer and he’s had a less-than-stellar start to the year finding himself thrown onto the fourth line earlier in the season. He plays in a well-known program at Michigan with a deep roster, and his play in the USHL and his draft pedigree will give him some surplus value but time is quickly running out for the talented Chicago Steel alumni. He’s probably still more valuable than the guys in the tier before but not by much at this point.
Tier 4: Father Time is ticking
| Jacob Quillan | Alex Steeves | Mikko Kokkonen | Roni Hirvonen | Ryan Tverberg |
All four of these prospects are amongst the oldest in the Leafs prospect pool. While Steeves, Tverberg and Quillan may have real value as assets in a trade given their NCAA and/or AHL success, and a very translatable style of play, Kokkonen and Hirvonen will need to find that next gear to stick with the organization.
I’m a believer in their talent and I’m confident that some NHL teams will value them based on their consistent play and draft pedigree but there’s certainly less variability with this group. They have real potential NHL depth value and some teams lower in the standings probably wouldn’t mind giving them some run at the NHL level in that role.
Tier 3: Getting to the main course
| Topi Niemela | Noah Chadwick | Miroslav Holinka | Ben Danford |
While the previous tiers were all players that likely have to be a secondary piece in a trade, these four players have enough hype and/or talent to garner a real NHLer as the main asset. All four players have reasonably high floors that project to an NHL depth role with the added upside of potentially becoming a regular player who can play higher up the roster.
While they likely couldn’t get you a top-six forward or top-four defenceman on their own, throw in a draft pick and one of the lower-tiered players, and that could be all it costs to get that centre depth the fanbase has been clamouring for.
Tier 2: It’s getting serious
| Fraser Minten | Nikita Grebenkin |
If these two guys are on the block it means that the Leafs have a real offer on the table. Alone, these players would fetch probably a decent bottom half of the line-up player but added to a package of picks and other prospects would legitimately land you a top-six forward or top-four defenceman.
Both have been incredible in the AHL to start this year and have looked the part in their first NHL games of the season. I wouldn’t move them, but if there’s a good fit for a true difference maker up front that’s not in the tail end of their prime, you pull the trigger.
Tier 1: ARE YOU IN
| Easton Cowan |
As Steve Dangle would say: “ARE YOU INNNNNN???” If Easton Cowan gets traded that means the Leafs certainly are. Cowan has the most legitimate top-six upside in this entire prospect pool so trading him likely means Toronto is cashing in all their chips for the top player available at the deadline.
Adding Cowan into a pick-heavy package and salary fillers will be a tough package to beat, I’d rate him as one of the top 50–60 prospects in all of hockey. I doubt a Cowan trade comes anytime soon; it would take a monumental player to become available to make the Leafs even consider moving the reigning OHL MVP.
