Ranking Prospects 2026-27

[herman]

TLN 19. Landon Sim

A real fassthole here, but limited in on-puck skills. Fortunately for him, gumption goes a long way on a hockey team as he is a responsible checker, an absolute troll to opponents, and has the attitude of a wrecking ball that knows his job.

Unfortunately he is smaller. So it’s like having a Brad Marchand that can’t pass or shoot much in an overrepresented demographic (bottom-6 LW). If he can beef up and really key in on the defensive and fore-checking side of things (PK, F1), he can definitely carve out a niche.

 

[herman]

TLN 18. Juuso Ainasto

It's hard to have an opinion on goaltending prospects, but the profile looks like the what the Leafs like: tall, long, mobile.
The fun part is he is also a trolly fassthole. Imagine Anthony Stolarz but potentially less injury-prone and looks like a tall Max Domi.

should be keyed to the Ainasto segment at 1hr52m

 

[herman]

TLN 17. Cooper Williams
I thought we'd target more centre picks in the draft (RD and Cs have future team/market value)

Cooper Williams bears the profile of some previous Leafs picks: Adam Brooks, Fraser Minten, and more recently Tyler Hopkins. Cerebral, responsible, 2-way centres are always in demand and to pick him in Rd 5 seems like a good bit of luck (some skating to develop, and scoring touch if any).

Red or Blue/Yellow #16

 

[herman]

 

[herman]

TLN 16. Patriks Pulmins
Made a lot of saves on a big stage, so definitely worth a longer look, but still a longer term project.

 

[herman]

PPP is about to launch T25U25; the prelude is a list of all the dudes that their voters left off the 25.

There are a lot of unknowns: influx from a very deep draft list + late season NCAA signings that didn't see playoff time factoring in.

2026 T25U25: Honorable Mentions

You almost made it!

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2026 T25U25: The Unranked

Only three unranked players out of 39.

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The fall off list is comprised primarily of late picks, college free agents, overseas goalies, and a couple of long time prospects that are way older now and still obscure in performance. I have no quibbles with these non-selections.

 

[herman]

TLN 15. Borya Valis
As you know, I always have time for scoring RWs that actually shoot right. Valis looked pretty rocky to start the prospect tournament last season, having some difficulty adjusting to the speed of play. His full season with the Marlies was unremarkable and needs to carve out a niche with his toolkit to start separating from the pack of AHL replacement level player. A bit too much of a perimeter player for someone who is as big and fast as he can be.