Toronto Maple Leafs pre-season prospect rankings: 16-20
16. Riley Stotts
Finally a break from looking at defenceman and moving on to another important position and that’s centre.
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Other prospect rankings have Stotts outside of their top 20 but something to consider is the fact that the Leafs do not have many high-end centre prospects. A reason why Stotts is not held in high regard is the fact that he hasn’t shown a high IQ at this point.
However, he was a highly regarded prospect when he was drafted 10th overall by the Swift Current Broncos (later traded to the Calgary Hitmen) he is still a young raw prospect. It was a move to Calgary that saw his points total skyrocket but whether he can build off that remains to be seen.
His strength is his skating and playmaking ability with the puck but still has work to do on the defensive side of his game. Here is what Kyle Dubas had to say about the young centre.
"He was an interesting player. Early in the year in Swift Current, they were a very, very good team and they were trying to give him an opportunity. They moved him. It wasn’t one of those moves in major junior where people are unhappy at all with their situation. He went to Calgary and he really hit [his stride]. Our scouting people – Tim Speltz, of course, but Garth Malarchuk and Dale Derkatch – were really, really excited about him, especially as he progressed in the second half of the year. He was very high on our list. They pushed for him. He seemed like a very well-rounded young man. We are excited to see what he can do in Calgary over the full season next year after our development camp."
Since the Leafs don’t have many centres that are coming up the prospect pipeline like other positions on the depth chart, it’s worth giving Stotts a chance to prove himself. Being at development camp and most likely playing in the rookie tournament will help set him up for success when he returns to the WHL.
Stay tuned for the next version of our prospect ranking which will look at prospects from 15-11 setting up for the top 10 list.
3 players with everything to prove in 2018-19. dark. Next
What do you think about the prospect list? Would you rank any of these players higher or would they be in your list at all? Let us know in the commments below.