The trade deadline has come and gone. While Toronto Maple Leafs fans enjoy Brandon Carlo’s steady presence on the blue line and wait patiently for Scott Laughton to stand out, the team saw an exodus of young talent leaving the team.
Top centre prospect Fraser Minten was sent to Boston while fan favourite Nikita Grebenkin made his way to Philadelphia. On top of that, Toronto sent two first-round picks away on deadline day as well.
It leaves Toronto in a bit of a rough spot, with no first-round picks for the next three drafts, and only five picks in the first three rounds. The Leafs pick cupboard is about as bare bones as you can get.
Add in the departure of two of the team’s top forward prospects, and it’s safe to say the Leafs need to get creative in terms of finding young talent to join the organization.
NCAA pipeline
A well that GM Brad Treliving has seemingly gone down since taking over in Toronto is the NCAA route. A sixth-round pick was flipped to Carolina last year for hulking Defensive Defenceman of The Year award winner Cade Webber, and Jacob Quillan was recruited to the team as a free agent after back-to-back impressive seasons centring Quinnipiac’s top line.
There are plenty of NCAA free agent success stories, Bobby McMann played four years at Colgate before signing in Toronto and he has since emerged into a legitimate 20-goal, 40-point threat at age 28. Logan O’Connor is another guy who played three years at Denver, signed an ELC with Colorado and made the NHL full-time at age 25.
The list goes on with names like Torey Krug, Neal Pionk and Zach Whitecloud on the blue line, Brandon Tanev, Garnet Hathaway and Alex Iaffallo up front. The translation can be tough, and there are certainly no guarantees, but it’s an easy way for Toronto to bring in young players who have NHL upside without spending draft capital.
John Prokop–LD–Toronto Marlies
Two days ago the Leafs dipped back into the pool and signed (in my opinion) the top NCAA free-agent defenceman on the market. Prokop was a Vegas Golden Knights development camp invite last season and he’s shown massive steps in his confidence offensively in college since his uninspiring USHL career. Prokop put up an eye-popping 85 points in 107 games for Union College, which has played a big part in turning heads his way.
I think, however, it’s important to temper expectations. Guys like Krug and Pionk are the outliers. With Prokop turning 24 in less than two months he’s not someone who has a huge runway of development to make it to the NHL. For reference, Jacob Quillan was only 22 when the Leafs signed him last season.
There are genuinely positive qualities in Prokop’s game though and in a relatively weak defencemen class this year, I think Toronto now has one of its most well-rounded players.
Pros
The positives of Prokop’s game are apparent. He’s a pretty good skater at his size (which is the first thing people will point out). At 6’3” he does a good job killing plays, closing space and getting back defensively.
I like his hockey smarts. He’s one of the most heavy-usage players in the NCAA this season on the blue line. With that role comes a ton of responsibility as a puck mover. For a guy who didn’t have the most inspiring offensive numbers in the USHL, Prokop’s ability to consistently make the right decision on breakouts and during in-zone offence has become a pleasant surprise in his development.
I took some time to find dedicated videos of him after the announcement of his signing, and I was even more enthused by his willingness to use his skating to get up into the play offensively. He activates with confidence, driving the net on rushes with the purpose of scoring, not just to bring a defender with him. He also has trust in his reads; when he pinches, he pinches hard.
With time and space, you’ll also see flashes of creativity from Prokop; a fake shot, backhand, forehand finish in tight for a goal, a nice no-look behind-the-back pass to a diving winger on an odd-man rush.
He’s also a willing shooter, especially in-zone and on the power play where he’ll punish aggressive defenders or penalty-killers caught chasing on the half wall, by aggressively skating into the open ice in front of him and putting the remaining players in conflict with the threat of his shot or a cross-seam pass to the opposite wing.
At 24, with his size and experience, Prokop’s skills are sufficient for him to be a dual threat in college. He can quarterback a power play unit, be a threat off the rush and kill plays defensively.
Cons
I think Prokop is someone who certainly profiles the all-around skills and natural physical tools to make a push for NHL minutes in the near future.
My main concerns with Prokop having watched him come down to two main areas:
- Physicality
Prokop isn’t all that physical given his size. Part of that may be because Union relies on him so much as a creator of offence from the back end that playing the super physical defensive role on top of that is just unrealistic.
Either way, I would like to see Prokop leverage his size more in his own end as his mobility as a pro will be tested by faster and stronger players. He’ll need to learn to make that a part of his game especially since he won’t be receiving the same offensive deployments that he got at Union (if Niemela and Villeneuve are brought back those two will likely handle most of the power play responsibilities).
- Pace of Play
I mention I like Prokop’s smarts. It’s true, he makes the right decisions on the puck and has shown the ability to handle a high volume of puck-moving responsibilities. What I’m more concerned about is the fact that his passing is quite simplified and straightforward.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing on its own, but he’s also a player I’ve noticed who double-clutches the puck a lot. He’ll receive a pass from the half wall and often he will pause and scan before passing. It only takes a second, and he ends up making the right play, but that pause, whether it’s in-zone or in transition, will be punished by AHL and NHL-level forecheckers and defenders.
He needs to develop pre-scanning abilities and learn to move the puck faster. I think playing in the AHL will help him develop those high-speed play readings much better than another year with Union.
In some ways that fault reminds me a little bit of Morgan Rielly whose inability to think and see the game quickly is part of what’s bumped him off the Leafs top power play unit this season.
Prokop’s Future in Toronto
I believe strongly that the worst-case scenario for Prokop is that he becomes a valuable member of the Marlies.
The Nicolas Mattinen experiment hasn’t worked this season and I don’t expect him to be back. Dakota Mermis is a veteran presence but with the acquisition of Matt Benning who has another year on his deal, Mermis may become redundant next season. I have hope Mikko Kokkonen is brought back, but at age 24 and the Leafs prioritizing guys like Rifai over him, I’m not sure he’s someone that the Leafs front office is all that optimistic about.
Noah Chadwick’s CHL eligibility expires at the end of this season (unless the Hurricanes choose to use one of their over-age slots on him and Toronto doesn’t see an AHL role for him), which means I project the Leafs will have the following defencemen under contract next season for the Marlies:
LD: Rifai, Webber, Chadwick, Prokop
RD: Benning, Villeneuve, Niemela
There’s a real chance in this group, that Prokop’s combination of size, well-roundedness and age makes him one of Toronto’s top two call-ups next year on the blue line (behind Rifai).
Other Options
Toronto isn’t done in the NCAA market. The team has three contracts left before they reach their standard contract limit of 50. There are two players still available that I really want. The Leafs are already linked to one and there hasn’t been any buzz for the Leafs surrounding the other that I’ve seen.
Luke Haymes–C–Dartmouth College
I love Luke Haymes. He reminds me a ton of Jacob Quillan who the Leafs grabbed up last year. Haymes is coming off less fanfare although to no fault of his own, Quillan and Graf were two-thirds of what was arguably the best line in College Hockey on Quinnipiac while Haymes’ Dartmouth College put up these records over his three seasons:
2022–23: 5–24–1
2023–24: 13–10–9
2024–25: 18–13–2
Haymes has been a very good player on Dartmouth though, especially over the last two seasons. An invite to Leafs development camp last season, Haymes has continued his strong play this year in the NCAA.
At 6’1”, 192 pounds while playing centre his physical profile is almost identical to Jacob Quillan’s 6’0”, 201-pound frame. Haymes is a skilled, highly competitive player. I love his contact balance and his ability to attack the middle of the ice. He’s a good passer with a heavy shot that plays a north-south dump-and-chase style of game.
He drives the middle of the ice, fights for pucks, and is a high-effort player defensively. I think there’s a real NHL translation here. I was very bullish on Quillan right after we signed him last season. I thought there was a real chance he could’ve made the Leafs playoff roster by season’s end.
While perhaps that projection was a bit overzealous, his red-hot stretch of late has tons of Leafs fans joining my camp; clamouring for him to be an opening night roster player next season. I have similar feelings about Haymes who I think has potentially an even higher ceiling than Quillan. Bringing in Haymes would go a long way in repairing the Leafs prospect pipeline at centre, and he’s someone that I think could even potentially make it in a third-line role at some point.
Karsen Dorwart–C–Michigan State
Dorwart is another player in the Quillan, Haymes mould. He’s got prototypical pro size at 6’1”, 194 lbs and he’s just another 200-foot player who competes his butt off.
His entire game is just motor, motor, motor. Constantly moving, winning pucks, attacking the blueline with speed. I like his puck protection and the nose he has for the front of the net. For a fanbase always clamouring for more screens and traffic in front of the goalie, Dorwart fits that to a tee. His pace and skating for me are the skillsets that stand out and the ones I would say he has over Haymes.
I don’t think there’s quite enough skill for me to see a sure-fire NHL player; he lacks the passing ability and polish that a player like Haymes has. If a team can ratchet up his physicality meter a little bit, however, I think he definitely has the tools to be an NHL call-up someday.
At worst, like Prokop, I think Dorwart will be a quality Marlie that coaches will trust a ton defensively. It’s a weaker NCAA class, but like Haymes, Dorwart is a player any NHL organization could use.
Restocking the cupboards
There you have it! John Prokop figures to be a bit of tidy business for Treliving as we expect a mini overhaul of the Marlies blueline next season. Luke Haymes and Karsen Dorwart are two centres that I think would be great additions to a Leafs system starving for potential NHLers in that role outside of Jacob Quillan.
Let me know who else you think the Leafs should target with their three remaining contract slots! (Maybe even players in the CHL?)
