While the NHL was still in the midst of negotiating a plan for the 2020-2021 season with the players’ union, top Maple Leafs prospect Nick Robertson was named to USA’s preliminary roster for the World Junior Championships. That selection always carried the caveat that if NHL training camps were scheduled to get underway before the…
Over the last few weeks, we here at TheLeafsNation have been counting down the Leafs’ top 20 prospects as voted on by our team of writers and that countdown wrapped up today with Nick Robertson coming in at number one. The top three are in a tier of their own as the only prospects to…
The Leafs entered this offseason with a prospect cupboard that was beginning to look rather bare, and were without a first round pick for the second consecutive year. With the Leafs tight against the salary cap and in need of some retooling, Kyle Dubas struck while the iron was hot and made a deal with…
Kyle Dubas and the Leafs’ scouting staff have zeroed in on Finland in recent years, selecting six Fins over the course of the last two NHL drafts. When Finland announced their preliminary roster for the upcoming World Junior Championships on Friday morning, three of those draft picks found their names on the list. Finland's preliminary…
The Maple Leafs organization is currently experiencing the results of some poor drafting under the guidance of Mark Hunter, with a lack of young NHL-ready talent capable of stepping into the lineup and contributing on the cheap. Though Kyle Dubas has addressed that deficiency to some extent by signing value free agents and undrafted players…
We might not know exactly when we’ll see the Maple Leafs playing hockey again, but the organization is sure to be well represented at the upcoming World Junior Championships. Despite having no players suiting up for the Canadian squad, the Leafs could have anywhere from six to eight players representing their respective countries in the…
The Leafs have placed a premium on hockey sense in the last couple of drafts, and they continued that trend with the selection of Finnish defenseman Topi Niemela at the top of the third round in the 2020 NHL draft. The young defender put himself on the map last year with Karpat, earning a regular…
Though the NHL owners and NHLPA are still working towards establishing parameters for the 2020-2021 season, some NHL hopefuls have already started making plans for the upcoming season. Mikko Lehtonen – signed as an undrafted free agent last May – has been playing with Jokerit of the KHL this season but his loan agreement was…
Drafting and developing goaltenders has not been a fruitful endeavor for the Leafs in the last couple of decades. Under the guidance of various management groups since 1995, the Leafs have drafted 18 goaltenders and just three of them have played at least 40 NHL games – Mikael Tellqvist, James Reimer, and Tuukka Rask. Not…
On the latest episode of the Lamenting the Leafs podcast, the guys discuss the unveiling of the NHL’s Reverse Retro jerseys before diving into TheLeafsNation’s prospect ranking series, as well as all the latest news on the the NHL, ECHL, and NWHL seasons. And for those of you that have been following the story of…
It’s a strange time in the hockey world, with several leagues entering the mid points of their seasons while other leagues have been put on hold or cancelled altogether. The Leafs have several prospects that are projected to represent their respective countries at the upcoming World Juniors in Edmonton, and that should help provide some…
Anthony MacDonald is a 15 year old hockey player from Nova Scotia who suffered an unfortunate and very severe head injury on the ice earlier this week. Anthony happens to be the son of a friend of mine, so this is personal to me and to The Leafs Nation team. The outpouring of support so…
