Leafs Top 25 Under 25 Years of Age – May 2012

25 BEST Toronto Maple Leafs 25 and Under

To qualify for this list, a player's NHL rights must be owned by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he must be born in 1987 or later. Although overall potential is considered, the rankings are biased in favour of older prospects who have a significant chance of contributing playoff-calibre performances over the next 3 to 5 years. The final bias is toward players in the NHL, AHL and Canadian Junior Hockey, as it is harder for me to access and assess US college and foreign statistics.

Top 25 Young Toronto Maple Leafs

This Month (Last Month)

1. (1) D: Jake Gardiner

2. (2) RW: Phil Kessel

3. (3) G: James Reimer

4. (4) RW: Matt Frattin

5. (5) C: Nazem Kadri

6. (6) D: Luke Schenn

7. (9) D: Cody Franson

8. (11) C: Joe Colborne

9. (18) RW: Jerry D'Amigo

10. (12) D: Jesse Blacker

11. (13) LW: Brad Ross

12. (10) RW: Tyler Biggs

13. (7) RW: Carter Ashton

14. (8) G: Mark Owuya

15. (15) C: Greg McKegg

16. (19) D: Korbinian Holzer

17. (22) D: Stuart Percy

18. (23) D: Simon Gysbers

19. (24) LW: Marcel Mueller

20. (25) LW: Nicolas Deschamps

21. (/) RW: Greg Scott

22. (16) C. Josh Nicholls

23. (17) RW: Sam Carrick

24. (14) LW: Josh Leivo

25. (20) G: Jussi Rynnas

Summary: Leafs need help on Left Wing and at Centre, and could also benfit from a proven #1 NHL goalie. Trading for 27 year old RW Rick Nash, a $7.8 mil player, may not be as wise as signing 27 year old LW Zach Parise for the same amount of money as a free agent, without having to give up anything.

24th in NHL scoring:

Zach Parise - 69 points

59th in NHL scoring:

Rick Nash - 59 points

Now, if Burke were to arrange for both of them to come to Toronto, most fans would be willing to give up a few names from the above list, especially below the top dozen.

Similarly, signing Martin Brodeur to a 2 or 3 year deal may be wiser than taking on Luongo's 10 year contract, though if we can get 5 good years out of Roberto, that could still work. As Luongo is more likely headed to Tampa (near his wife's family) than Toronto, Burke should make a stellar offer to Brodeur.