Toronto Maple Leafs: First prospect roundup of the season

Toronto Maple Leafs prospects Eemeli Rasanen, Ryan McGregor, Joseph Woll and Carl Grundstrom off to strong starts in their respective seasons.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have one of the deepest prospect pools in the entire NHL. This season the organization saw Jeremy Bracco and Adam Brooks both made the jump to the pro game with the Toronto Marlies.

We will be checking in on prospects still in the CHL, as well as overseas and the NCAA throughout the 2017-18 season. We start with prospects who have been off to a strong start to their season as they look to climb the Leafs prospect rankings.

Prospects in the CHL

Eemeli Rasanen – D (Kingston Frontenacs)

2017-18 Stats: 9 GP / 3 G / 6 A / 9 Pts / 16 PIM / +3

There were a lot of people who were impressed with the Leafs taking Rasanen 59th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.

So far he’s proven the Leafs right with a great start to his 2017-18 campaign. Playing once again for the Kingston Frontenacs, Rasanen has scored nine points in as many games. He is currently tied for first in team scoring with Jason Robertson and Linus Nyman.

Rasanen is also putting his heavy shot to use early on in the year. He’s already halfway to his total from last year with three goals.

His best game of the season so far came against the powerhouse London Knights. The defender finished the night with two goals and four points and was a +3 with four penalty minutes.

The Fronts currently sit fourth in the OHL’s East Division with a 5-2-0-2 record. If not for other teams having more overtime and shootout losses, they would be higher up in the standings.

Rasanen will be a huge part of the team’s success this season. It will be fun to see what he can do with the spotlight growing brighter on him. Expect this to be the best season of his young career this year.

Ryan McGregor – C (Sarnia Sting)

2017-18 Stats: 11 GP / 3 G / 5 A / 8 Pts / 2 PIM / +6

After finishing last season eighth in the OHL’s Western Conference and claiming the last playoff spot with 69 points, the Sarnia Sting are the talk of the league after starting the 2017-18 season with a 10-1 record.

Sting forward and Leafs prospect Ryan McGregor has been a strong contributor for the team. The 2017 sixth-rounder has three goals and eight points through 11 games.

McGregor is almost a third of the way to his point total from last season already. He will be a key piece for the Sting this year as they push to stay atop the standings in the OHL.

Ian Scott – G (Prince Albert Raiders)

2017-18 Stats: 1 GP / 2.91 GAA / .929 Sv%

There’s not too much to report on when it comes to Ian Scott so far the season, unfortunately. The goalie played the first two periods of the season for Prince Albert before suffering an apparent groin injury in the third period.

"“He moved quickly and it’s a lower body injury,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “Those aren’t good on goaltenders. It’s the way it is and we’ll see how it goes.” – via Jeff D’Andrea/PANow"

There is no timetable for his return as of now. As Raiders Head Coach Marc Habscheid said, groin injuries are a tough injury for a goaltender to come back from in a short amount of time just ak Jonathan Quick. The injury occurred in September, so he could return in the next few weeks but it’s hard to say for sure.

For the Leafs, they’ll want him to get as many games in the WHL this season as possible. Prince Albert has gotten off to a 3-4-3-0 start to the season, so they will welcome Scott back into the lineup as soon as he’s healthy.