Gator Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) With the 2023 draft quickly approaching, and a whopping 10 picks in our arsenal, we feel it is time to take a look at our current top 10 prospects. The list is sure to change after draft day, and we are so excited to be adding more talent to our prospect pool. Let's have a look at our top 10 prospect currently in the system. #10 - D Matt Kessel (STL) 22 Drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 5th round of the 2020 NHL draft Matt was a long shot to make the NHL. However he played 2 NHL games last year, and we are expecting him to get a few more this year. Hopefully he impresses enough to lock up a spot out of training camp. Time will tell. Might not be a high end prospect, but considering we got him as an undrafted free agent, we'll take it. #9 - D Wyatt Kaiser (CHI) 20 Acquired in the 2022 TDL trade, which saw Jonathan Quick sent to Vancouver Wyatt Kaiser has quietly become one of our better prospects, and could find his way into our lineup after training camp. At just 20 years old, he played 9 games with the Blackhawks and finished with 0 goals 3 assists. Not too shabby for a 20 year old rookie. Oh, and did we mention he may be feeding Bedard in the near future?! #8 - G Erik Portillo (LAK) 22 Erik Portillo is considered to be 1 of the top 10 goalie prospects in the league. Not too bad for an undrafted free agent signing. A big frame (6'6/224lbs) goaltender on a young up and coming team like the LA Kings is a goalie prospect anyone would love to have in their pipeline. We are hoping to see him develop in the AHL for a year or 2, but if he was to play his way into the starting role for the Kings next year, that wouldn't surprise us. He's no sure thing, but he has the potential to be great. #7 - RW Matvei Petrov (EDM) 20 Drafted in the 6th round of the 2021 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers he went over looked by many, including all GML GMs. His 1st year after the draft he went off for 90pts (40g 50a) in just 63 games. We made sure we got him in the 2022 draft, and even traded up to take him in the early 2nd round. We could see him make his way onto the Oilers roster this season, but the more realistic expectation would be he's 2 years away. Our hope is he becomes 1 of McDavid or Draisaitl's wingers. #6 - LW Dmitry Buchelnikov (DET) 19 Drafted with the very last pick of the GML draft (I was skipped and had to wait for everyone else to pick), Buchelnikov ended up being selected 52nd overall by the Red Wings in the real NHL draft a couple weeks later. He didn't disappoint them, or me either. He had a really good season in both the MHL & VHL, while also putting up 2pts (1g 1a) in 10 KHL games as an 18 year old. We see him becoming a top 6 forward someday, and feel he is about 2-3 years away from NHL action. Fun fact, he shares the same birthday as myself (exactly 10 years apart). #5 - LW Ville Koivunen (CAR) 19 Drafted in the 2nd round of both the NHL & GML draft Ville Koivunen is a very solid forward prospect. He may not be the most flashy player, but he has very high hockey IQ and makes his teammates better. He struggled a bit on the Stat sheet in his short AHL stint (just 1 goal in 12 games), but with it being his first time in North America the slow start was kind of expected. We think he is going to turn some heads this season, and possibly find his way onto the Hurricanes roster by years end. #4 - G Ivan Fedotov (PHI) 26 At 26 he is hardly a prospect anymore, but since he is yet to come to North America we will consider him as such. Ivan is arguably the best goalie in the world not playing in the NHL right now. The talent is not in question, and he has a HUGE 6'8 203lbs frame. If he was to come over to the NHL there's no doubt in my mind he'd be a top 10, maybe even top 5 goalie. The thing is, is I don't know if he will ever come over, but we will continue to hold out hope. #3 - RW Xavier Bourgault (EDM) 20 When the Oilers draft Xavier Bourgault in the 1st round of the 2021 NHL draft we knew we wanted to get our hands on him. We found a way to get him in part of a package in a deal where we moved out D Adam Boqvist. After acquiring him he went off for 75pts (36g 39a) in just 43 games in the QMJHL, and followed it up with 34pts (13g 21a) in 62 games of his first pro season in the AHL. We see him as a future top 6 winger, and believe he can make the Oilers as early as this upcoming season. #2 - C Thomas Boudeleau (SJS) 21 Drafted 38 overall in the 2020 NHL draft by the San Jose Sharks Thomas Bordeleau has quickly become 1 of our better prospect. Though we traded for him, we consider him homegrown talent, as we should've drafted him 54th overall. 2020 was our very first GML draft and the fast pace of it really caught up to us pretty quick. After selecting Lafreniere 1, Byfield 3, and Zary 14, we were left waiting 40 picks for our next pick. When pick 54 came up our list had Dylan Holloway as BPA, followed by Thomas Boudeleau. We were shocked Holloway fell that far to us, so we made the pick, and then found out he was already taken in the EARLY 1st round (where we expected him to go lol).. I panicked, and picked Thomas Bordeleau, but the GML draft is unforgiven and you can't make up a botched pick until the end of the round. After finding that out, Bordeleau was no longer mine, and our division rival Sabers scooped him up with the very next pick. It definitely sucked, but we were determined to get him back. We made sure we got him back when we were discussing moving Adam Fox there the next year. That trade ultimately bit me in the arse, as Adam Fox single handedly eliminated us from our first playoff series since taking over the team. We look forward to getting them back this upcoming season! #1 - D Luke Hughes (NJD) 19 Arguably the best defensive prospect in hockey right now, Luke Hughes is looking poised to take the NHL by storm. He played in 2 regular season games this year, and had 1 goal 1 assist, and the goal was an OT winner assisted from his brother, and fellow GML teammate Jack Hughes!.. He never got any playing time in the playoffs to our surprise. This is, until the final 3 games of their playoff run where he added 2 assists. So in just 5 NHL games the young defender already has 4pts. If it wasn't for Connor Bedard, he might have been the favorite to win rookie of the year next season. Coming into our 2nd GML draft, we were determined to get Luke Hughes. We were sitting at #5, and we knew he could go anywhere between 1 and 5. We tried to get up to #1 but we just couldn't find a trade that worked, so we settled for #3. We had to hope the foot injury was enough for 2 teams to pass on who we seen as the deserving #1 overall selection, and to our pleasant surprise, he fell to us at 3. Then we got more amazing news when we heard the Devils call his name at #4 of the NHL draft. Being paired with his brother is going to do wonders for his development I believe. That moment was really what set the tone for our future. After we landed Luke Hughes we went to work to try and acquire both of his brothers. We knew it would be a very far fetched idea, but we had a lot of assets, so we went calling. We managed to work out deals to get bot Quinn & Jack to pair with their younger brother. A few months later we see Connor McDavid hit the trade block. We had a ton of valuable assets, including Lafreniere & Byfield, and knew we had a good shot at putting the best offer on the table. We made a major offer that ultimately got accepted, and bring McDavid over with the Hughes brothers. That move was the beginning of opening our contention window. We were still a lot of pieces away, but a solid core was formed. We know we have until the end of this McDavid deal to make this work, as we will have a lot of thinking to do when his and the Hughes brothers contracts expire. It will be tough to hang onto all of them, but we will try lol. We added players like Darnell Nurse, Evander Kane, Ondrej Palat, Dawson Mercer, and Ilya Samsonov int the past couple years to help put us over the top. We are still a few pieces away, but feel we have set ourselves up really nice for the 2023-24 season and beyond. As I stated above we know we have a short window with the current McDavid & Hughes brothers deals expiring in 3 seasons. If we want to compete with these guys after that we will need a lot of those ELC/bridge contracts to fill out the rest of the roster. That is the main reason we are acquiring a lot of 2023 picks. It's a very deep draft, and if we can hit on a fair chunk of these picks we could set ourselves up for long term success. We may have our eyes focused on the short term, but it will always be on the future as well. I don't plan to see the Maple Leafs miss the GML playoffs ever again as long as I'm running the show. We are putting more work into this draft then we put into any draft previously, and really feel it's going to pay off big in a few years. Get ready Maple Leaf fans.... Edited June 6, 2023 by Gator 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relyt Krets Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Extension - The have agreed to terms with pending RFA Jack McBain - Jack McBain - 2 years x $3,000,000 ($1,500,000 AAV) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relyt Krets Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Extension - The have agreed to terms with pending UFA Anthony Stolarz - Anthony Stolarz - 2 years x $3,000,000 ($1,500,000 AAV) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relyt Krets Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Extension - The have agreed to terms with pending RFA Arvid Soderblom - Arvid Soderblom - 1 year x $880,000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relyt Krets Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Extension - The have agreed to terms with pending UFA Jimmy Vesey - Jimmy Vesey - 2 years x $3,500,000 ($1,750,000 AAV) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Maple Leafs are excited to come to an agreement with Jimmy, and believe he will play a big role in our bottom 6 over the next couple seasons. We are still in talks with Colin Miller's agent, and hope to get a deal worked out there, and if we can get that done we will probably be entering free agency with the following roster... E. Kane - C. McDavid - R. Smith O. Palat - J. Hughes - D. Mercer J. Vesey - XXXXXX - P. Kessel XXXXXX - P. Stastny - XXXXXX XXXXXX - XXXXXX D. Nurse - Q. Hughes L. Hughes - XXXXXX B. Kulak - C. Miller J. Livingstone I. Samsonov C. Ingram Will be looking for a top 4 Dman & 5 bottom 6 forwards. May come looking to acquire through trades if I'm unsuccessful in free agency. I know there is a GML finals going on, and nobody wants to hear about the 2023-24 Maple Leafs yet... But this is the Toronto Maple Leafs, and this league wants to replicate the real life feel of the NHL.. So here you go.. Here's some Maple Leafs news nobody wants to hear about, but will hear about it anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lethunder Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Sabres considering offers on Adam Fox before the draft. Looking for blue chip prospects and high picks. Can take on some cap to make a fit if it's right. Obviously he won't be cheap. No, adding 3rd+4th round picks won't help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 4 hours ago, lethunder said: Sabres considering offers on Adam Fox before the draft. Looking for blue chip prospects and high picks. Can take on some cap to make a fit if it's right. Obviously he won't be cheap. No, adding 3rd+4th round picks won't help. Damn, don't tap out for next year already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Optimist Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 13 hours ago, Gator said: Get ready Maple Leaf fans.... aww man, who said Gator three times? geeez louis.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck2xtreme Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 TRADE: The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a trade with the Ottawa Senators. To OTT : EDM 2023 2nd Round Draft Selection (52nd overall) To TOR: WSH 2023 2nd Round Draft Selection (59th overall) TB 2023 3rd Round Draft Selection (94th overall) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck2xtreme Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 TRADE: The New York Rangers have made a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. To CBJ: Mattias Samuelsson Michael Rasmussen Angus Crookshank To NYR: Mathieu Joseph CBJ 2024 1st Round Draft Selection CBJ 2024 2nd Round Draft Selection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck2xtreme Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 TRADE: The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. To VAN: WSH 2023 2nd Round Draft Selection (59th overall) TB 2023 3rd Round Draft Selection (94th overall) To TOR: LA 2023 3rd Round Draft Selection (73rd overall) DAL 2023 3rd Round Draft Selection (74th overall) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighOnHockey Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Blue Jackets' current projected lines going into next year: Kirill Kaprizov - Josh Norris - Andrei Svechnikov Pavel Buchnevich - Sam Reinhart - Nathan Bastian Dominik Kubalik - Michael Rasmussen - Brandon Duhaime Julian Gauthier - Shane Pinto - Christian Fischer Brady Skjei - Jacob Trouba Mattias Samuelsson - Ryan Lindgren Nic Hague - Jacob Brysen Dysin Mayo Sergei Bobrovsky Daniil Tarasov Bobrovsky is available with retention, in the last year of his GML contract. Reinhart is also loosely available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck2xtreme Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 I will be posting any CBA revisions/updates and launching the 2023-24 thread over the next week or so. If you have any suggestions, questions, comments, complaints etc., now is the time to let me know! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 29 minutes ago, canuck2xtreme said: complaints 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighOnHockey Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 I guess I should probably be looking to add more quantity to my prospect pool. Would consider trade-back scenarios from pick 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck2xtreme Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Gator said: 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 2 hours ago, canuck2xtreme said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatMike Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 SIGNING: The Calgary Flames have signed forward Marco Kasper to a three year entry level contract. Marco Kasper - 3 years, $4.35 million dollar contract ($950,000 base salary + Bonuses - $1.45m AAV) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatMike Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 SIGNING: The Minnesota Wild have signed the following players to their three-year entry-level deals. Brandt Clarke: 3 years, $6.3 million dollar contract ($950k base salary + $1.15m in bonuses. $2.1m AAV) Dmitri Kostenko 3 years, $2.475 million dollar contract ($825,000 AAV) Olivier Nadeau 3 years, $2.625 million dollar contract ($875,000 AAV) Riley Kidney 3 years, $2.475 million dollar contract ($825,000 AAV) Daniil Lazutin 3 years, $2.325 million dollar contract ($775,000 AAV) Guillaume Richards 3 years, $2.325 million dollar contract ($775,000 AAV) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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