Toronto Maple Leafs prospect rankings: Prospects No. 1-5
After revealing our honourable mentions and first five players, we conclude our Toronto Maple Leafs prospect rankings with our top five prospects.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs development camp behind us, we continue with our annual prospect rankings this week where we will countdown from the honourable mentions, which you can read here, to 10-6, which you can read here, to 5-1. In case you missed it, here’s a review of our top 10 prospect rankings prior to the 2016-17 World Junior Championships.
After sorting through the honourable mentions on Monday, and the No. 6-10 ranked prospects on Wednesday, we conclude our rankings by taking a look at our No. 1-5 ranked prospects in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization.
No. 5: Carl Grundstrom
Left wing, Toronto Marlies (AHL)
A second round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Grundstrom is an intriguing prospect. Not only is he skilled, and possesses a rocket of a shot, but he’s got some added sandpaper that is often lacking in the Leafs lineup outside of a Leo Komarov.
For me, when I look at Grundstrom, how he played in Sweden, at the World Juniors, and in the AHL playoffs with the Marlies, that’s all that I think of whenever I watch him play. Grundstrom is never going to be confused for William Nylander, where he can rely on his skill to be effective, but what Grundstrom brings to the table is extremely valuable nonetheless. He’s going to be effective by playing up and down your lineup as a guy who can score 15-20 goals while grinding away and pissing off star players, a lot like what the Leafs have with Komarov.
Watching how well Grundstrom played on North American ice at the World Juniors with Sweden and with the Marlies in the playoffs gives me hope that he can be a real important player with the Marlies going into next season before effectively replacing Komarov when he inevitably moves on in the next couple of years. While he’s not the Leafs best prospect, he will likely become a fan favourite among Leafs/Marlies fans, and will be exciting to track over the next few years.