Maple Leafs prospects set for tall ask at World Juniors
As the World Junior Hockey tournament kicks off in Buffalo on Boxing Day, the Toronto Maple Leafs have some prospects worth keeping an eye on in this year’s tournament.
The World Juniors Tournament has been a staple during the holiday season for decades and for the past couple of seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs have seen their fair share of prospects in the tournament especially the past couple of years.
Here is a list of Leafs’ prospects who have played at the World Juniors since 2014:
Auston Matthews, Carl Grundstrom, Joseph Woll, Mitch Marner, Travis Dermott, Jeremy Bracco, Martins Dzierkals, Dmytro Timashov, William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen, Frederik Gauthier.
Generally Leafs’ prospects have not been the front and center of the tournament as the hype is usually saved for the top draft prospects looking to make a name for themselves.
A memorable moment though that some Leafs fans may recall from the 2016 tournament was when Kapanen scored the overtime winner in the gold medal game for Finland in Helsinki.
Many people will look forward to watching Rasmus Dahlin on the big stage after he had a smaller role in last year’s tournament. Then there are draft prospects like Alexander Alexeyev, Andrei Svechnikov, Quintin Hughes, Rasmus Kupari, Brady Tkachuk, Filip Zadina and many more who will garner a lot of attention ahead of the 2018 draft.
When it comes to the Leafs, only three prospects will be representing them at this year’s tournament. Here is a breakdown of each player and what to expect from them.