TLN Top Twenty Prospects: No. 15 – Dominic Toninato

 

Name: Dominic Toninato

Position: Centre

Hometown: Duluth, Minnesota

Size: 6’1, 180lbs

2013 Team: Fargo Force (USHL)

Acquired: Draft, 5th Round, 2012

 

It’s inevitable that Dominic Toninato’s progress will be closely tied to 2011 draft pick Tony Cameranesi’s. Both were drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 5th round, both were selected out of Minnesota high schools, both spent a year in the USHL prior to starting their NCAA career, and both are now University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.

 

Playing a season behind Cameranesi, Toninato has consistently put up more points than his counterpart – last season, Toninato scored 29 goals and 70 points in 64 games for Fargo of the USHL, tying for 8th in USHL scoring. To compare, Cameranesi scored 42 points in 55 games during his one-year stint in the USHL. Toninato also outscored Cameranesi during each of their three years in the Minnesota high school league.

 

Transitioning to the NCAA game may be a different story for Toninato however, as it will be the first time the two play for the same team. To make matters more difficult, Cameranesi had a pretty awesome season for Minnesota-Duluth last year, and will enter this year as the team’s top centre. If Toninato expects to outscore his predecessor, he’ll need to steal some ice time from him. It won’t be easy, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Toninato is unable to match Cameranesi’s near point-per-game pace from last season because of it.

 

Of course, Toninato’s success doesn’t revolve solely around who accomplished what before him. As McKeen’s NHL Draft Guide 2012 pointed out in its ‘Sleepers’ section, there’s quite a lot to like about the tall, skilled centre’s game: 

As Toninato continued to develop on these skills this past year, he also put on some significant bulk, adding 15 pounds to a frame that was only 165 when drafted. All of this hard work earned Toninato an invite to USA Hockey’s National Junior Evaluation Camp earlier this month. One of 44 players invited, making Team USA’s World Juniors squad may be an uphill battle, but it shows how highly the program thinks of him. 

 

Next year will provide us with a much better opportunity to gauge Toninato’s chances of one day becoming an NHL player, when he faces off against better, stronger competition in the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

 

Here’s a video of Toninato speaking to LeafsTV following the Day Four of July’s Leafs Prospect Camp: