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Ranking Prospects 2025-26

TLN 20. Borya Valis

In case you missed it, Borya Valis was a free agent signing out of the WHL back in March. He finished his final season with the Prince George Cougars putting up 80 pts in 66 GP. He's a 6'2" RW that plays an energy game and likes to go to the net with the puck; it started translating to production more recently. You can treat him like a draft pick from the Fraser Minten year that is now graduating to Marlies duty.

PPP has a slightly more in-depth profile on him.

Even if he doesn't pan out to NHL viability, it's good to see this front office pursuing this player profile: right shot forechecker with some skill is a niche that this team desperately needs given its current glut of zippy little LWs. Who wouldn't want a (much) cheaper and younger Josh Anderson?
 
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TLN 19. Hudson Malinoski

He was already a very long shot at the draft when he was selected D+1 in Rd 5 because of his grievous accident injury when he was younger, so just even playing hockey is gravy. Production in his sophomore season with Providence was numerically similar (+2G, +3A) and he did lead the team in points per game (23 in 35GP) and tied for the lead in Goals (11G). He was still a bit of a menace down low at the net front (esp PP), so if his skating and strength continue to develop, it'll be nice to have a LW/centre with a penchant for greasy goals.
 
TLN 18. Cade Webber
I was hoping he would click with Topi Niemela, but then Topi didn't really take any steps forward, and Webber is basically at the point where all he can do is fine tune timing with experience and maybe add more strength. Feels like a tweener unless he can handle the puck just enough to shed forecheck layer 1 routinely.
 
TLN 17. Sam McCue

He popped off this past season, playing higher in the lineup across two teams and generally just causing chaos and potting uggo goals with some regularity. On paper, his playstyle should translate to playoff performance, but so far, that has not borne out on the ice. It just means at this time, he's not quite a driver yet and the rest of his team was a meh playoff group (with fellow Leafs pickup Blake Smith, and draft pick Ryan Fellinger). He could still very well be a solid third banana in a top 6 line, like Knies but less skilled, or a heavy bottom 6 presence; think Lorentz but meaner. Not a bluechipper by any means, but more promising than most 7th rd picks tend to be.

He's moved onto a new team for the upcoming season, Brantford.
 
Curious to see how long this goes before there's finally a player I'd have put before Valis. I think he's pretty low on this list at 20.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Curious to see how long this goes before there's finally a player I'd have put before Valis. I think he's pretty low on this list at 20.
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I don't disagree. I do have some skepticism about WHL production, and he was the max age for junior, so there's some caveats there. 3rd line rush/greasy finisher would be very nice. I don't think he will be playing centre.

 
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www.pensionplanpuppets.com

2025 T25U25: Unranked and Honourable Mentions

The 13 who didn't make the list.
www.pensionplanpuppets.com www.pensionplanpuppets.com
Unranked: Braeden Kressler, Matthew Hlacar, Matthew Lahey
Honourable Mentions: Nathan Mayes, Blake Smith, William Belle, Roni Hirvonen, Joe Miller, Ryan Tverberg, Hudson Malinoski, Rylan Fellinger, Timofei Obvintsev, Vyacheslav Peksa

I have no real quibbles with the unranked list. Braeden Kressler is a borderline call there, but I think he didn't get votes because most are already done with the small zippy scoring winger archetype. We can see this bearing out in the Honourable Mentions list as well: Roni Hirvonen, Ryan Tverberg, Joe Miller, Hudson Malinoski. The other pattern showing up here is that people don't really want to vote for 6/7th rd picks (unless Thommie Bergman blessed), defensemen that don't have highlight packs (Blake Smith, Rylan Fellinger), and goalies whose names are hard to spell (Obvintsev, Peksa). Not sure how John Prokop (older 6'3" LD) made the top 25 over Rylan Fellinger (drafted 6'4" RD), but I think that's mostly because people voted extremely randomly after 10 or relied a bit more on points for defensemen.


theleafsnation.com

Maple Leafs about to lose rights to a pair of NCAA players

August 15th is a deadline. Not the most important deadline on the NHL...
theleafsnation.com theleafsnation.com
Mike Koster, Joe Fusco, Wyatt Schingoethe.
There is pretty solid evidence the Maple Leafs are passing on these players. None of them were attendees at the Maple Leafs development camp earlier this summer and presumably that would have been in attendance when fellow NCAAers who wrapped up their college careers, Luke Haymes and John Prokop were. While moving on from these prospects seems like a reasonable decision it is worth noting that the Leafs gave up on Dakota Joshua after an underwhelming college career and he quickly found his way in the NHL. Dominic Toninato is another somewhat recent example of the Leafs not seeing the potential in one of their college picks and he’s had a steady depth career in the NHL as well.
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I had already flagged the first two to drop off the list of eligibles when I pulled the names together earlier this summer. The Wyatt Schingoethe draft pick always seemed like a favour to someone in the organization with a near throwaway 7th rd pick.
 
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TLN 15. William Belle

I like Belle but he should be like 21 or 22 on this list. Granted he’s a guy that could probably be effective without ever touching the puck…
 
Not often a 5th round draft pick from the most recent draft cracks this list I think. Because of the lack of prospects here right now and because of his size/playstyle I totally get why he'd be ranked at around this spot right now though. Still would have put Valis ahead of him.
 
I forget how I voted,because the bottom half is very meh looking on paper and it's hard to assess without seeing more on-ice play. Mentally, I'm tiering them as such in no particular order within each tier + subtier.

Real
Knies
Robertson, Maccelli
Cowan

NHL-capable
Danford, Chadwick, Villeneuve, Hildeby, Akhtyamov
Thrun, Quillan, Valis, Johansson, Haymes, Holinka
Koblar, McCue, Hopkins

Tweener
Niemela, Hirvonen, Tverberg,
Webber, Belle, Fellinger, Prokop, Moldenhauer, Malinoski, Der-Arguchintsev
Kressler

Wait and see
Nansi, Obvintsev

Shrug
Hlacar, Peksa, Mayes, Lahey, Miller
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1955271806111322337
Biggest Strength
Toronto has drafted BIG in the past few years and it might pay off. Ben Danford, for example, loves to get in the way of shots and isn’t afraid of any physical bout. Noah Chadwick and Cade Webber mean business on the back end, too. Recent draft picks Tinus-Luc Koblar, Harry Nansi, Sam McCue and William Belle all love to throw the body and could be potential fourth-line options. Even Dennis Hildeby – a 6-foot-7 goaltender – towers over the competition. Toronto has wanted to get stronger in recent years. Mission accomplished.

Biggest Weakness
Outside of Cowan, who has top-six potential, the Leafs don’t have a ton of high-end forward depth to work with. They’ve drafted players who can handle a certain style, mostly in a bottom-six role. But beyond that, the Leafs don’t have a ton of offensive weapons. That’s not necessarily an issue, and it’s the norm for teams expecting to go deep in the playoffs. But that does limit their trade options, though.
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TLN 14. Ryan Tverberg
Big drop off in production compared to last season, but aside from that one 4G game in Jan 2024 that season, it looks about the same. Different playstyle and change in linemates/role contributed to the drop off in assists. Another small zippy winger model; generally good without the puck but lacking the offensive ceiling to be more than a smaller, annoying forechecker. Like Robertson without a shot.

PPP 25. John Prokop
Another Cade Webber flyer, but older (24 already), slightly smaller, and looks like a better transition defender. Meshed well with the top offensive contributors on his former teams, but they were not even at a Fraser Minten level. Maybe he clicks with the Cowans and Nylanders on the Marlies. Again, I would have ranked Fellinger a bit above Prokop due to age and positional advantage (RD vs LD)
 
TLN 13. Victor Johansson
Here’s where I would slot Borya Valis behind someone. I like Johansson’s mentality and the chip on his shoulder from being a little brother to two bigger guys who have some pro-experience already. His weight issue at draft, being easily explained by injury/medication history, is now actually just history. We’ll get a better look when the World Juniors comes around, where Johansson has been getting RD assignments as a left shot.

PPP 24. Topi Niemela
I think there was also a lot of genuinely held belief that transition skill was where the NHL was heading, and big defenders were by their nature slow and not very good. This stew of ideology over individuality persists in the zeitgeist around this player today. You will see opinions that Niemelä is actually NHL-level, but the GM of the Leafs is intentionally pushing him aside because he only wants big defenders.
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I still like him but his skating and strength just aren’t at a level where he can truly leverage his skill and senses to their utmost.

Because of roster slot scarcity and generally how the game is played, defensemen who are basically the blueline version of the little zippy offensive winger basically never make it (in the NHL).
 
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herman said:
TLN 13. Victor Johansson
Here’s where I would slot Borya Valis behind someone. I like Johansson’s mentality and the chip on his shoulder from being a little brother to two bigger guys who have some pro-experience already. His weight issue at draft, being easily explained by injury/medication history, is now actually just history. We’ll get a better look when the World Juniors comes around, where Johansson has been getting RD assignments as a left shot.

PPP 24. Topi Niemela


I still like him but his skating and strength just aren’t at a level where he can truly leverage his skill and senses to their utmost.

Because of roster slot scarcity and generally how the game is played, defensemen who are basically the blueline version of the little zippy offensive winger basically never make it (in the NHL).
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There's no replacement for displacement.
 
PPP 22. Nick Moldenhauer
Still small and zippy with a wicked shot, but hasn't been able to put up points consistently (yet?) since making the jump to NCAA.

Some backstory on Moldenhauer
 
TLN 10. Luke Haymes

PPP 20. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev
He's not coming back and is better off plying his trade on bigger ice as a smaller, playmaking pivot.

20. Sam McCue
Last season, I figured McCue to be an energy forecheck forward who probably shouldn't handle the puck much, and while that's still the case, he has also added the wrinkle of being a very good play finisher (usually net side). He's still a third banana and likely a bottom sixer at best because there's not much more to his game, but he could be a useful banana if he figures out 2-3 forechecking routes and puts hips through the hands consistently. This is better track than usual for a 7th rd pick.
 
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