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Top-20 des meilleurs espoirs
MAPLE LEAFS DE TORONTO
Analyses de Scott Wheeler de The Athletic.
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| 1- Marco Rossi Centre 20 ans 5'9 183 lbs Repêché 7ie au total en 2020 par Toronto.  |
" To see Marco Rossi look like Marco Rossi this season is such a giant thing for him personally and for the future of the Wild organization. It’s not surprising in the least. You won’t find a kid who is more driven than he is, and who makes overcoming what he has seem so inevitable. But it’s still a very big deal. Rossi has been tremendous in the AHL. For my money, he isn’t just one of its best young players, but one of its best player period. He projects as a top-flight two-way centre prospect who provides major value in all three zones of the ice. Despite his 5-foot-9 frame, he’s built like an ox, with a sturdy and low centre of gravity that allows him to take bumps on offence and play his determined, detail-oriented, checking style on defence (on top of helping him be very good in the faceoff circle). Then he’s also got slick skill in traffic, playmaking acumen, a sixth sense for how to use spacing, and impressive finesse to his game that allows him to create in and out of traffic. He’s a heck of a hockey player and kid. " | ||
| 2- Yaroslav Askarov Gardien 19 ans 6'4 176 lbs Repêché 10ie au total en 2020 par Toronto. |
" This season has really been the first in Askarov’s young career where he hasn’t looked like a star. He has been good. He’s a teenager having success at two different pro levels, including one that is arguably the second-best in the world. But between shoddy international play at multiple points now and his play coming back down to earth domestically a little, this is the first time where I’ve paused. Not in my belief in his tools or his upside as a starting NHL goalie. But enough for me to say that I’d rank Wild first-rounder Jesper Wallstedt as the No. 1 goalie prospect in the world today (when it was more of a coin flip for me in the summer). Askarov’s raw talent certainly makes him unique, though. His ability to change directions in the net, stay on top of shooters, track their hands, and make reactionary saves is elite. His athleticism is too. He regularly makes second- and third-chance saves holding firm in his positioning even when he’s laying on the ice. But there are tools in his game that still need some refinement. There are still times where he gets frozen over his glove hand, something NHL teams will exploit. He still looks jittery in the net, bouncing on his toes and moving to pucks (which he says is to keep himself focused and make some of those quick-twitch saves I talked about). But his agility and reads are so impressive that he can steal games when he’s at his best, and make the difficult saves that others just can’t get to or stick with. That gives him high, high upside. " | ||
| 3- Morgan Frost Centre 22 ans 6'0 185 lbs Repêché 52ie au total en 2017 par Toronto.  |
" I said last year, when I released the 2021 Flyers pool ranking, that I thought it would be the last time Frost appeared on the list. So his slide from second to fourth speaks to the bit of disappointment that Flyers fans are within their right to feel on this one. He’s comfortable in possession, using excellent problem-solving skills and quick hands to bait defenders, weave in traffic, protect the puck against bigger players, and change directions or tempo. And while he’s not a powerful or explosvie player, he can downshift or upshift gears to quickly change speeds as a skater to either push into space or pull back into it. I still really like his ability to play through layers of defensive-zone coverage with his touch and finesse as a playmaker, waiting just long enough for lanes to open up. I still see middle-six playmaking and power-play upside in Frost’s game. I think part of what has made the jump to full-time a little slower than most would like is that he’s trying to do it at centre. If he were a natural winger growing up, I think he’d probably be closer to that projection at this point. " | ||
| 4- Calen Addison Défenseur 21 ans 5'11 172 lbs Repêché 38ie au total en 2018 par Toronto.  |
" Over the years, I’ve been pretty bullish on Addison as a potential No. 4-5 defenceman with additional power-play upside. Though he wasn’t drafted by the Wild, he’s another player in their pool who was a late first-rounder on my board when he was selected in the late second round. He’s a beautiful lateral skater on his edges across the line or under pressure. I love his aggressiveness with (and frankly without) the puck. He wants to slide off the line and use his shot or beat the first guy off the point and riffle a pass to a teammate in a dangerous spot. He has developed some needed power and strength into his compact frame. And he has learned when to play a little more passively defensively, relying on his stick and feet more instead of always trying to overcompensate for his size by really pushing and leaning on guys along the boards (where he’s often not going to win those battles). He’s never going to be a stalwart defensively, but he’s got legitimate offensive flair and I like the way the rest of his tools work around his skill game enough to project him into The NHL. " | ||
| 5- Isak Rosen Centre / Ailier Gauche / Ailier Droit 18 ans 5'11 157 lbs Repêché 16ie au total en 2021 par Toronto. |
" Rosen’s a slippery goal-scoring winger who just looks talented in possession. On the attack, he’s a crafty handler who sneaks through traffic to navigate in and out of space in control, drawing attention as he goes. A lot of the tools he hones are also the ones required of smaller players (he’s listed at 5-foot-11 and 157 pounds) in today’s game. He’s inventive. He’s a light, fluid skater who changes directions in an instant and beats defenders off of cuts. And his ability as a marksman really can’t be overstated. His shot is pinpoint accurate (both his one-timer and especially his wrister) and he makes a ton of quick adjustments before he releases the puck to catch goalies and defenders off guard. Though his mentality is to look to attack the slot to score, he’s also got great touch with the puck when play breaks down and he has to improvise or make a play to a linemate. He’s going to have to learn to play a little differently to build towards a scoring role at the next level but with patience and proper development, he’s going to inject skill into an NHL top-nine and threaten on the power play in the long term. I’ve got more coming on him, too, so stay tuned! " | ||
| 6- Topi Niemela Défenseur 19 ans 5'11 165 lbs Repêché 58ie au total en 2020 par Toronto.  |
" Niemela is in the midst of a two-year progression that has completely changed his outlook as a prospect. On his draft day, Niemela played a modern style that projected into a third pairing ceiling. Today, he’s got legitimate top-four aspirations and has established himself, as a teenager no less, as one of the top defencemen in Liiga (and its highest-scoring one). Niemela is a poised, calculating, one-step-ahead player who makes the game looks easy. He has become an impressive power play quarterback, he’s creating offence consistently at 5-on-5, he’s an able defender, and he drives results with the consistency of his execution. Niemela’s ability to calmly take passes, beat the first layer, and then quickly identify a lane or move his feet to create one distinguishes him. His game is detailed but also smooth, driving results with smart decisions in all three zones. He’s not overly aggressive, so you’ll rarely see him try to beat multiple people to force a play individually (like you might expect out of someone as productive as he is) but he’ll use whatever space he’s given as a tool to get better opportunities for himself or his teammates. While he’s not powerful through his stride or in his board battles, impressive footwork helps him open up and direct opposing plays to the outside, close gaps, recover from mistakes, or adjust across the offensive zone blue line with the puck. He looks like a real piece of the Leafs’ future now. " | ||
| 7- Samuel Bolduc Défenseur 21 ans 6'4 212 lbs Repêché 55ie au total en 2019 par Toronto.  |
" After an impressive rookie pro season in the AHL’s shortened campaign a year ago, Bolduc has been closer to fine this year. He’s a 6-foot-4 defenceman with decent four-way mobility (he’s better going forward and backward than he is through his footwork and pivots), a good stick defensively (which is important considering he’s not a super physical player), and a hard point shot (either through a wrister that snaps through traffic low or a heavy, but not overwhelmingly so, old-school slapshot). He’s clearly a reliable, capable two-way defender at the AHL level. That much is obvious when you watch him, even though the points aren’t there this year. I think he’d be a serviceable penalty killer at the NHL level too. But he probably tops out as a No. 5-6 defenceman long term. " | ||
| 8- Hugo Alnefelt Gardien 20 ans 6'3 201 lbs Repêché 103ie au total en 2019 par Toronto.  |
" After two years playing ahead of the curve to strong results in the SHL, and even longer than that to superb results against his peers, Alnefelt, who only just turned 20 in June, has finally shown his age to start his AHL career. I’m not reading too much into it just yet as a result, because he need not be judged on his AHL play this year (much more pertinent will be his AHL play in the third year of his entry-level contract at 22). There have been symptoms of my longtime worry with his game though: that he lets too many routine shots squeak through his body (some of which I think comes down to spotty tracking that can occasionally prevent him from being set in his stance). His athleticism and movement can correct for a lot though. He’s 6-foot-3 and he gets from post-to-post or low-to-high quickly to challenge shooters and make reactionary saves. I also think the things that need developing are the kind of things that are more correctable with repetition and time than some of the natural tools he has. " | ||
| 9- Chase Stillman Ailier Droit 18 ans 6'1 181 lbs Repêché 48ie au total en 2021 par Toronto.  |
" Stillman has always had a strong foundation of pro tools. But I have wondered about his ability to find that next level offensively and this season has reaffirmed those concerns at least a little. Stillman’s a very effective hockey player. He’s physical on the forecheck. He’s always in the mix. He’s strong on his feet and can make plays around the net. But he lacks a dynamic quality and I find him to be too deferential with the puck (he’s got great hands and could hang onto it more than he does). He does a lot of things well and he plays an endearing style, but I do worry he tops out as a role player/depth contributor (which makes him a good prospect but probably makes it hard for him to live up to his first-round selection). " | ||
| 10- Xavier Bourgault Centre 19 ans 6'0 172 lbs Repêché 32ie au total en 2021 par Toronto.  |
" The more I watch Bourgault, the more I fall in love with his game (enough so that after beginning the season third here, I’ve placed him ahead of Broberg). He has really impressed me on tape in Shawinigan, where he is one of the QMJHL’s best players, and in the nearly double digits live viewings I’ve had of him across three events this season (split between Hockey Canada’s summer showcase in Calgary in August, their selection camp in Calgary in December, and his one game at the world juniors). Though his late-October birthday (and what it means for this being his fourth year in the Q already) is a factor in contextualizing where he’s at, Bourgault’s tools almost all grade out highly. He does a great job improvising under pressure to slide pucks around defenders, switch from a two-hand carry to a one-hand carry, or pick up his pace. His handles and edges as he adjusts to pressure both look easy. He has developed into a really quick skater in straight lines. I’m consistently impressed by his change of directions with the puck. And his game with the puck has become quite deceptive, with little stutters in his release that force the goalie down early and fake passes that force defenders to bite. He hides the puck on his stick and sends mixed signals beautifully because his hands, feet and eyes do different things. He’s dangerous in a variety of ways, with a release that comes off of his blade early in his shooting motion and stance to surprise goalies (off of either foot or from awkward postures, too) and good playmaking instincts inside the offensive zone. And though he’s neither big nor small, his detail makes him an able penalty killer, he holds his own defensively, and he plays through contact consistently thanks in part to good core balance over a wide skating stance. There’s a pretty clear path for him to develop into an impactful playmaker. " | ||
| 11- Jan Mysak Centre / Ailier Gauche 19 ans 6'0 181 lbs Repêché 42ie au total en 2020 par Toronto.  |
" One of my favourites from the 2020 draft, Mysak is someone I was admittedly a little too high on but still has exciting tools. He’s an attacking player who makes a ton of individual skill plays and works hard off the puck to stay above it, fulfill his defensive responsibilities, and make things happen on the penalty kill (where he’s one of the OHL’s most dangerous players). He’s always driving, attacking the net and cutting to the inside. He enters the zone on angles. He can make soft little plays through a layer or two. When he’s looking to get off the perimeter, he’s a highly entertaining player whose game is dynamic one-on-one and has shown time and time again an ability to break an OHL game open with a flash of skill, whether that’s a dash to the net, a slick deke, or a heavy wrister from mid-range. He attacks in waves, plays a straight-line game (I’d like to see his game flash east-to-west a little more), is quick from a standstill (and through his stride to an impressive top speed), and uses space extremely well when he doesn’t have the puck. He’s also just as dangerous off the rush as he is inside the offensive zone. He’s also got a June birthday, has a strong track record and has a ton of experience when you consider how young he is. He’s not a sure thing but there may be some real payoff there if he hits. " | ||
| 12- Jonatan Berggren Centre / Ailier Gauche / Ailier Droit 21 ans 5'11 194 lbs Repêché 26ie au total en 2018 par Toronto.  |
" After a tremendous 20-year-old season in the SHL, Berggren’s 21-year-old season in the AHL has met the same standard, reaffirming his position as the highest-ceiling forward prospect in the Red Wings system now that Raymond has graduated. Berggren can torment teams with his east-west skill on the perimeter, hanging onto pucks, playing with unique poise under pressure, and using his hands and footwork to draw defenders to him so his linemates can get open in the space those defenders leave behind. He has also, in the last two seasons, gotten to the inside more proficiently. Berggren has clear line-driving upside and an ingenuity to his game that helps him create plays out of nothing, surprise defenders and goalies, and spend a lot of time dictating with the puck on his stick, layering stop-ups and low-to-high players into carrying sequences. He’s not going to be a big goal-scorer at the NHL level but I like him as a playmaking top-nine winger with clear power-play value. " | ||
| 13- Jaret Anderson-Dolan Centre 22 ans 5'11 187 lbs Repêché 148ie au total en 2017 par Toronto.  |
" Anderson-Dolan offers a bit of everything. He’s a capable three-zone player who can help out on both special teams (though I think he has more NHL value as a PK2 guy than a PP2 guy) and plays a tenacious, forechecking game. Offensively, he’s most effective when he plays fast and hard and looks for opportunities to get between the hashmarks, use his shot, and then follow up on rebounds to crowd the net. He involves his linemates well, too, but that’s usually through executing through available lanes rather than making something unexpected happen. He’s a malleable, versatile player who can effectively play the retrieval role on a line, freeing up more talented linemates to get open and try things. I like him on the cycle. But the clock is ticking for him to establish himself as the contributing bottom-six forward he has always projected as. " | ||
| 14- Tristan Broz Centre / Ailier Gauche / Ailier Droit 19 ans 6'0 179 lbs Repêché 80ie au total en 2021 par Toronto.  |
" Broz’s freshman year has not gone well at the University of Minnesota, raising questions some had with his upside after good but not great production as one of the older players in the 2021 draft class. Some of that is about the opportunity he has been afforded in a deep forward group, but it’s hard not to look at the success that Matthew Knies, selected one spot ahead of Broz in the draft’s second round, has had by comparison. I think the bigger issue he has faced has been with the pace of play and his skating. He has looked a step behind without the puck and rushed with it as if he’s not confident he can make a play with it. I think we often imagine a lack of pace as someone who is too slow to react and waits too long to make a choice with the puck. But I think rushing plays is just as indicative of the same problem. When Broz was at his best into the USHL playoffs last year, he was looking to be involved, he was attacking at players, and he was over the toes of his boots constantly looking to make something happen. But when he doesn’t engage physically like he’s capable of, and that passivity creeps into his game defensively, it makes him hard to send over the boards offensively because his game isn’t particularly dynamic there. He’s a patient creator who utilizes space extremely well, finds openings, and understands how to pull defenders in so that he can make a play through them into the gaps in coverage they’ve left behind. But he can drift to the perimeter in control a little too much. And while I like his one-timer from the flank on the power play, he’s not going to get those kinds of opportunities unless he starts manufacturing more at even strength. I still think he’s more talented than his stat line indicates, and will become an impactful college hockey forward, but his start has definitely set him back. " | ||
| 15- Ryder Korczak Centre 19 ans 5'11 172 lbs Repêché 96ie au total en 2021 par Toronto.  |
" The top forward on a Moose Jaw team that is rounding the corner out of a rebuild and will be exciting to watch next year, Korczak is a hardworking puck transporter and distributor who leads his linemates into the offensive zone and then gives them the puck in their wheelhouse with perfect timing and weight. He plays a fast, on-the-puck game, is capable of running a power play, and thrives under pressure inside the offensive zone at making slick small-area plays through layers. He’s also an excellent faceoff guy who has won nearly 60 percent of his draws this season (of which he has taken more than all but two players in the league, both of whom he’s more proficient than). And while he’s always going to be more of a pass-first guy, it has been nice to see him look to get his own a little bit more this season. I’m not sure what he’s going to be if he makes it as far as the NHL level, but he’s the kind of player who confidently projects as a good AHL player and that should put him in the conversation at some point. " | ||
| 16- Jack McBain Centre 21 ans 6'3 201 lbs Repêché 62ie au total en 2018 par Toronto.  |
" I really like McBain’s size-skill combination, his skating continues to improve, and I know it has been rewarding for all those who’ve been involved in his long development to see him put it all together this season and fulfill on the promise many have always hoped he’d untapped. He can control play on the cycle with his 6-foot-4 frame, he occasionally flashes skill in traffic, he sees the ice well, and he helps his line play more of their shifts in the offensive zone than the defensive zone. He’s also now contributing more in transition and taking advantage of some of that quiet skill he has. I’m very much looking forward to watching him with Team Canada in the Olympics because it should serve as a useful launching point for him into the final stretch of his college career and then the entry-level contract he will now surely get. He’s exactly the kind of player every team covets: the bottom-six big man who can contribute offensively, provides defensive value, and gives a line a different dimension. His ceiling is limited though. " | ||
| 17- Justin Barron Défenseur 20 ans 6'2 194 lbs Repêché 26ie au total en 2020 par Toronto.  |
" Barron has impressed me more with each viewing this year with the Eagles, where he has begun to establish himself as one of the top young defensemen in the AHL. He’s a strong skater and player who advances play up ice, defends at a high level, drives results, and rarely gets beat one-on-one. He can get over his toe caps a little too much when he moves from an upright stance to a chase but he’s otherwise an impressive skater who plays a mature game defensively and a smart, heads-up style offensively with equal ability as an outlet passer and carrier. He’s probably not going to be a go-to PP guy at the next level (though I’m starting to think he may have PP2 value) but he’ll attack off the line and contribute at both ends. After he began his young career projecting for second pairing upside, I downgraded him to a third-pairing ceiling when the blood clots surfaced and his draft year wasn’t great. Now he’s starting to look like a potential top-four guy again for me. " | ||
| 18- William Villeneuve Défenseur 19 ans 6'2 181 lbs Repêché 71ie au total en 2020 par Hartford.  |
" Villeneuve’s one of those players who is at his best when he lets the game come to him but can also stray from that and turn into a player you notice a lot for good and bad reasons because he’s trying to involve himself a little too much. There are times when he wants to join every rush and walk every line and you realize that he doesn’t necessarily have the skating to be that guy. There are times when he wants to close every gap and his crossovers can look smooth through neutral ice to make the stop on one play but his timing is off on the next because he misread the carrier. It can be a bit of a roller coaster. It feels like he has begun to strike the right balance in Saint John this year more and more, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he manages junior hockey’s top teams come June’s Memorial Cup (which his Sea Dogs are hosting). Watching his roller coaster over the last few years has also been tricky to gauge because his teammate, Jeremie Poirier, is a complete loose cannon and Villeneuve’s defensive zone results have often looked extremely favourable relative to the team as he takes on tougher assignments and at times a more cautious approach by default. His play with the puck has also been underrated because of the contrast to Poirier’s high-end skill package too. Villeneuve is a confident, capable playmaker who can lead exits and entries, manage the point, and execute through seams in his own right. His biggest barrier is slow feet and processing time that can take him a split second too long to read and react to the play in front of him, but I think he has made progress on both fronts, and he has plenty of other redeeming tools (soft and hard, including a 6-foot-2 frame). I won’t be surprised if he makes waves in the playoffs and Memorial Cup this year and uses that as a launch pad into the AHL next season. I fully understand why the Leafs development team made the investment in what was a quick entry-level deal for a fourth-round pick. " | ||
| 19- Dylan Garand Gardien 19 ans 6'1 181 lbs Repêché 138ie au total en 2020 par Toronto.  |
" Garand has really emerged these last three years as one of the top goalies in junior hockey and the backbone of a Kamloops team that outperforms expectations in no small part because of his play. And though he’s listed at 6-foot-1 by the Blazers and by Hockey Canada (he’s listed at 6-foot by the NHL), Garand has most of the tools you look for in a smaller goalie, led by his quickness in the net (which helps him make acrobatic saves when he needs to), great hands (especially on the glove side), a studious understanding of the game, his positioning, and how he sees the way plays develop in front of him. He plays on his toes and is active in the net, but he does it without spinning and swimming by holding his outside edges when he settles into his stance before a shot, playing sharp angles, and tracking pucks into his body. He also almost never looks panicked in the net and his post-to-post movement is meticulous so he never seems to pull past his parallels and always seems to find and hold his short side on bad-angle shots (his skate and shoulder are always in the right spot, even off of switches when some goalies lose some of those habits). This may be a little bullish given his size and the work he still has in front of him in the AHL even once he’s done with junior, but I like the goalie and there are question marks about every player left on the list at this point. " | ||
| 20- Bulat Shafigullin Ailier Gauche / Centre 22 ans 6'1 165 lbs Repêché 274ie au total en 2018 par Toronto. |
"
Shafigullin is a bit of an under the rard prospect and as such can be a
huge boom or bust pick. His numbers are outstanding, as he had one of
the top MHL PPG seasons ever for his age, and his playoff performance
just added to that. However, with limited international competition and
very limited (under 5 minutes per game) action at the KHL level, it's
unclear how many scouts would be comfortable taking him in the top two
rounds. The flashes of skill are evident though, so he might be worth
the gamble. In terms of style, he plays the game similar to Nikita
Kucherov. This is a style only comparaison though, and not one based on
skill or ability. " |
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| Mentions honorables: |
- Leevi Merilainen (G) |