The new NHL season is finally upon us, with the prospects tournament now over and training camps set to open this week.
I have a piece teed up on the Maple Leafs‘ five-on-five play heading into their second year under head coach Craig Berube, but my notes from the prospect tournament weekend ended up quite lengthy, so let’s take it one step at a time.
As always, these games are difficult to evaluate; played at the beginning of the hockey schedule, it’s a group of young players who have never played together facing opposition who have also never played together, leading to some chaos and a lack of structure. With that caveat out of the way, here are some of my impressions from the weekend:
Prospect Tournament Notes
– As expected, the Leafs‘ three best forwards over the two games were the ones we highlighted last week as darkhorses to push for a roster spot: Jacob Quillan, Luke Haymes, and Easton Cowan. All three stood out — and there were a few other performances of note — but I can’t honestly say I watched either game and thought at any point that any player was a serious threat to push for a spot in the Leafs‘ lineup out of camp. Part of it is due to the Leafs‘ depth at both forward and defense.
– Quillan and Cowan were paired up together in the first game (Cowan did not play the second game), as the Leafs trotted out Cowan on right wing and Borya Valis on the left. Both wingers were playing their offside and it showed, particularly with Valis, who struggled all night with turnovers and couldn’t make a crisp play up his wall. After yet another giveaway in the third period, Valis was mercifully benched, and Quillan and Cowan took off from there, combining immediately for a goal with Ryan Kirwan on their line.
Easton Cowan remained largely on the right, but it’s noteworthy that all of his dangerous sequences offensively at five-on-five came down the left. The build-up to the aforementioned goal — which included a Cowan assist — came down the left wall, and Cowan was involved all the way down the ice. Cowan also went on a 2v1 on the left, where he made a nice play to get a pass across. He broke in all alone after picking up speed through the neutral zone and taking a nice breakout pass from Ben Danford on his forehand — again, on the left.
When he was on the right, Cowan tried stopping up at the blue line and was easily defended; he’s not going to back off professional defensemen with his shot or probably even his speed, so I’m not sure what advantage he gains on the right compared to the left, where it’s easier to break out. We will keep an eye out for where the coaching staff slots him in preseason and how the organization approaches developing him (presumably) with the Marlies.
– It felt like Cowan spent the first half of the game attempting to play the way he thinks the Leafs want him to play: ultra conservative, safe with the puck, dump-ins, etc. Once the team was down a few goals, he took off the shackles, started playing hockey, and looked a lot better.
Some of it was also due to his linemate on the other wing making his life difficult, as well as the defensemen on the ice not doing enough with the puck. Still, Cowan will need to find a proper balance between making plays with the puck/producing while not becoming a detriment to the team in the process — i.e., managing risk/reward. That said, he could have easily notched four points in the game if he/his linemates finished a little better. At the end of the game, when the Leafs pressed with the net empty, everything Cowan did with the puck was dangerous.
– Jacob Quillan picked up a goal and an assist through the two games and put together a very good weekend. He helped lead the push in their comeback attempt against Ottawa with a nice one-timer finish, roofing the puck up over the shoulder.
I thought Quillan’s game stood out even more on Sunday, when he didn’t have a player of the pedigree of Cowan alongside him (although his replacement linemate, Ryan Tverberg, is 23 and shows decently well in a competition like this). Quillan managed to push play, drive offense, and was dangerous. He picked up an assist in the game and was really effective on the penalty kill, creating a shorthanded breakaway for himself on one penalty, and coming up big on a PK late in the third period when the Leafs were protecting the lead. He missed another breakaway in the first game as well. On the empty netter to close out the Habs, Quillan didn’t record an assist, but he closed space in the neutral zone, leading to the turnover and the unassisted empty netter.
It’s fair to question the upside of Quillan (is he, at best, a 3C?), but it’s clear why the Leafs like him, and they are justified in their belief.
– One of the Leafs’ other prized UDFA signings, Luke Haymes, also put together a really nice weekend. He scored in both games and piled up four points. His shot is a weapon, and beyond his goals, there were a few times on the power play where he stepped into shots; we could see why he’s a good finisher with notable offensive upside. His one-timer goal against the Habs was a confident, just-give-me-the-puck, no-doubter.
Haymes’ contributions were particularly impressive when you consider he was effectively playing on the second line and was generally seeing second power-play unit time. Defensively, he struggled at times at center and didn’t protect the middle of the ice well in his own end; he was either not in the right spots for pucks to get through or didn’t win enough battles to make clears and thus was hemmed inside his own end. He did show a little improvement as the weekend went on in those areas.
We’ll see if Haymes is actually a center in the long term, as he profiles as more of a winger to me — good shot, good size, and a good skater who plays in straight lines, but he is not exactly a cerebral type in the middle of the ice. Either way, he’s a good player who was a coveted college free agent last season, stepped right into the AHL and produced at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, and is off to a good start (so far) to begin the new season. He’s a player to watch.
– Continuing the UDFA trend, Ryan Kirwan scored in each game, showing off what got him signed at the pro level: an excellent release. He scored 26 goals in 37 games in college last season. This is his game: finding soft spots in the high slot, getting pucks off his stick quickly, and beating goalies. In the first game, once he moved up for shifts with Quillan and Cowan, his game really roared to life.
Kirwan is 23, so he’s effectively one of the older players in this tournament and really should stand out given his age. We’ll see if he can keep the production going with the Marlies, but it’s important to note that Kirwan signed a two-year AHL contract, so he will need to prove himself and earn a contract with the Leafs first.
– John Prokop also managed to stand out, but truthfully, it wasn’t exactly hard to do on this Leafs defense. Outside of Prokop and Danford (who we will get to shortly), it wasn’t a particularly strong unit. Prokop’s smoothness and skill instantly made him stand out when compared to essentially every other defenseman on the team.
Prokop notched points in both games and did pretty well to facilitate the puck on the power play, where he was the quarterback. He also owns a pretty good shot from the point, and one such shot led to a goal on the weekend. He did struggle defensively at times — especially in battles below the goal line and in front of the net — and I had to remind myself that he’s actually listed at 6’3.
Prokop put together a fine weekend overall, but he’s 24, so that’s the bare minimum at his age. He will be in a battle to earn minutes with the Marlies, and if he’s not seeing power-play time, he will be in tough to contribute.
– On the younger side, Tyler Hopkins had himself a really good weekend. He’s crafty up the middle and drove offensive chances playing down the lineup — impressive considering he was one of the younger players in the tournament and wasn’t exactly armed with high-quality linemates. While Hopkins didn’t record a point through the two games, he was a bit unlucky; he created a few good looks, including leading a breakout that turned into a 2v1 against Ottawa, as well as a good sequence down low against Montreal that led to a few chances in the slot.
Hopkins is crafty in the middle of the ice and comes across as a natural center who controls the middle of the ice well. It is early yet, but it’s a promising start for Hopkins, who enjoyed a good season with Kingston last year and will look to dominate the OHL this season.
– When I think of a player who this tournament is not made for, Ben Danford springs to mind. He’s a defensive defenseman, and those types of players tend not to fully show their value in what can be generously described as unstructured hockey.
Even still, Danford managed to flash a few of the things you’re hoping to see from him. He was physical and lined up a few players over the two games. He made some really good outlet passes, particularly when he sprung Cowan for a mini breakaway against the Senators.
Danford is poised with the puck and can snap a good outlet pass, but the strengths of his game are in the subtleties that surface more prominently when defending inside tough matchups. In a preseason rookie tournament, there were stretches where you really had to look for him. Against Montreal, he took a pretty good hit in his own end in open ice as well.
Ultimately, the potential payoff is clear if Danford can become a right-handed defenseman in the league. Those are difficult to find (see the price to acquire Brandon Carlo or the contract the 34-year-old Chris Tanev signed). It’s difficult when a player doesn’t exactly dominate, even in the lower leagues, but Danford’s puck touches are generally positive, and he’s clearly a good defender. That said, we could have said the same thing about Stuart Percy back in the day, too.
– On the lower end of the depth chart, I quite liked Landon Sim‘s tournament. He fought in both games, was a good penalty killer, generated some good cycles in the offensive zone, and hit everything that moved.
Sim played in the preseason under Craig Berube in St. Louis a few years ago, so there is some familiarity there. Sim knows his role — provide energy, don’t back down from anything — and he became a winner in his time in London. He reminds me a little bit of 2010 Leafs draft pick Sam Carrick, who is at 320 NHL games and counting. Their OHL profiles are fairly similar, and they both play the same style of in-your-face, don’t-back-down game. I’m not declaring Sim will become an NHLer, but he’s the type of player I don’t count out.
– Miroslav Holinka is raw and will need plenty of time yet, but the 6’2 right-handed center has skill and can clearly shoot. He had a ton of chances over the weekend and couldn’t convert, including some 1v1 looks all alone against the Senators’ goalie (who was really good in that game, by the way), to tie it late.
Holinka couldn’t bury, and that’s part of the process with players; you generally only get a few looks per game, and the good players at the highest levels cash them in immediately. Even a player like Bobby McMann might only get a good look or two on any given night, but more often than not, he buries.
Holinka signed his three-year ELC this summer, and an organization needs to take as many kicks at the can on centermen as possible. He’s worth a roll of the dice, for sure.
***
With the Leafs buying at deadlines and trading away a good chunk of their draft picks over the years, they need to unearth prospects in different ways, and this tournament highlighted this reality. Two of their best players this weekend — Jacob Quillan and Luke Haymes — are undrafted college free agents. Other players who stood out, such as Ryan Kirwan and John Prokop, are as well. The aforementioned Landon Sim went unqualified.
Some Leafs draft picks did show well — Easton Cowan, Ben Danford, Tyler Hopkins, and Miroslav Holinka, to name a few — but they need to be creative in acquiring young players and have done a reasonable job of this. On the current team, all of Bobby McMann, Chris Tanev, David Kampf, Simon Benoit, and Philippe Myers are undrafted free agents.
All that said, the prospect pool is clearly a little light on talent, which is par for the course for an organization that’s trying to win right now. Of all the players we discussed, the only one I would suggest could truly become a top-six forward/top-four defenseman is Easton Cowan. Maybe another player or two will hit and become a great success story, but that’s not really the point here.
I left the tournament thinking about Yegor Chinakov, the Blue Jackets’ first-round pick in 2020 who requested a trade this summer and let it be known last week that it hasn’t been rescinded. He comes with his own question marks around whether he can stay healthy, but there’s no denying his talent and upside, and he was very good last season before an injury derailed his season. The Leafs’ U25 forward group boasts Matthew Knies, a decent bet in Mattias Maccelli, and Easton Cowan as a hopeful top-six forward; after those three, it is a whole lot of question marks.
Chinakov would at least represent a high-ceiling option who can join the group and add some real talent, giving the Leafs potentially four top-six wingers to go with a collection of interesting center prospects (Quillan, Haymes, Hopkins, and Tinus-Luc Koblar, who wasn’t at the tournament).
Defense remains an issue for the organization, in general, as they have never really figured out that side of the equation. The only defensemen the Leafs have drafted and developed this millennium are Morgan Rielly, Luke Schenn, Carl Gunnarsson, and Ian White. They also drafted a few other defensemen — Carlo Colaiacovo, Anton Stralman, Sean Durzi, and Rasmus Sandin — who turned into solid defensemen elsewhere. That’s basically the full list.
Reviewing the defensemen this past weekend, I came away thinking, “Well, maybe Ben Danford can be a solid defensive defenseman, John Prokop showed some skill but is already 24, and Noah Chadwick looked very raw.” Victor Johansson was not present — and he looks quite promising — but it’s still a sore point for the organization.
Overall, the Leafs acquitted themselves well in the 2025 prospects tournament. They competed in two tight games, played hard, and showed a lot of spirit in the process. My expectations were generally low from the outset, but I did come away pleasantly surprised.
It’s nice to write about hockey again.
