Like a lot of contending teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospect pool is lacking when compared to rebuilding clubs.

The Athletic recently ranked Toronto’s prospect pool 28th in the NHL and it has maintained its 28th-ranked spot for a second consecutive season. It makes sense given the Leafs have dealt a good chunk of their draft picks for immediate help while the prospects they do have for the most part project to be contributors rather than difference-makers.

There are certainly some standouts like Easton Cowan, Ben Danford, Fraser Minten, Nikita Grebenkin, and Artur Akhtyamov, so the Leafs are not completely barren of any young talent. But this is the price you pay when you deal picks and prospects to try and help your ambitions of winning a Stanley Cup.

That means the Leafs will instead be prioritizing long-term projects to work their way up through the organization and, ideally, onto the NHL roster. It has proven to be a useful avenue as they have had success stories in Justin Holl, Trevor Moore, Bobby McMann, and Marshall Rifai.

And there is a young prospect that could be the next in line to achieve this feat in Chas Sharpe.

Standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 201 pounds, Sharpe is a right-shot defenceman who is 21 years old. He is in his first professional season with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones after having spent four years in the OHL with the Mississauga Steelheads, where he spent his final campaign as their captain.

Sharpe joined the Leafs organization on April 14 when he signed a two-year AHL contract, as well as a PTO that allowed him to join the Marlies for their regular season finale. While Sharpe played just one game, he did participate in the Summer Development Camp and the 2024 Prospect Showdown where he got into a fight with Florian Xhekaj. With the Marlies loaded on the back end, the team opted to assign Sharpe to the Cyclones to begin the year where he has remained ever since. To say that he has made the most of his opportunity would be putting it lightly.

On a struggling Cyclones team, Sharpe has emerged as one of the lone bright spots alongside Ty Voit. The emerging blueliner is currently second on the team in scoring with 22 points in 36 games played, prior to Thursday’s games. He’s scored 12 goals, which not only leads his team but also all ECHL defencemen at the time of filing. Sharpe has done so thanks to a wicked shot that he is not afraid to use, whether that be a slap shot from the point or a wrist shot from around the faceoff circle.

Sharpe is considered a rangy defenceman who is excellent at moving the puck, not afraid of laying the body, and can hold his own defensively thanks to his size and reach. His signature attribute is his shot, which has been put to good use on the man advantage where opposing teams have to account for his eagerness to shoot the puck to try and score, create havoc in the screen game, or for a deflection. Of course, that doesn’t mean he is only a power-play merchant as he takes pride in his 200-foot game and has been used on the penalty kill at times.

He was a player the Leafs scouted frequently during his final OHL season, while he fielded offers from eight teams when he was eligible to be signed. Sharpe ultimately chose to sign with Toronto because he felt they were the best fit for him because of their development plan, their training facilities, and the fact that they view him as part of their long-term plans. Add onto the fact he would be signing with his childhood team and it was clear to him that the choice was easy.

“It’s super special, every kid from our area dreams of being a Maple Leaf one day and now I’m one step closer to my dream,” Sharpe said to The Hockey Writers’ Lukas Bernasiewicz in May about what it meant to be joining the Leafs’ organization. “I think wearing that Maple Leaf one day would be very special.”

While he may not be signed to an NHL contract just yet, Leafs fans should still be keeping an eye on Sharpe because he has the potential to be a rapid riser within the organization. He is having a strong season on a struggling Cyclones team with his goal total leading both his team and all ECHL defenceman. Sharpe has the toolset to be a solid two-way blueliner with strong puck-moving skills and a booming shot. While he could have easily chosen to join any other NHL organization, he chose the Leafs partially because he is a noted Passion Haver as well as his enthusiasm to join their development program.

Sharpe has made impressive strides in his growth already and has emerged as one of the Cyclones’ most important players despite being a rookie. Don’t be surprised if he finds his way back onto the Marlies roster later this season as a reward for his strong play as well as an ELC from the Leafs as soon as he is eligible for one, perhaps as early as this summer. He has the potential to be the next success story in the Leafs pipeline of AHL signings working their way up from the ECHL to the best league in the world. That makes Sharpe an intriguing defensive prospect in the Leafs’ system and one worth paying attention to his development.