Over the summer, LastWordonHockeyProspects, The Score and ESPN claimed that the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ prospect pool is the strongest in the National Hockey League, in large part due to elite young phenoms like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander. The Leafs farm system also boasts studs like Nikita Soshnikov, Kasperi Kapanen, and Andreas Johnsson in the AHL.
Beyond that, there’s a whole host of highly-skilled players ripping up the various junior leagues across Canada—Jeremy Bracco, Nikita Korostelev, and Martins Dzierkals the most well-known among them. It would be easy to go on and on about the skilled prospects currently in the pipeline for Toronto. However, there are three Leafs OHL prospects that often go unnoticed by fans, in the shadow of their more prolific future teammates.
Unsung Toronto Maple Leafs OHL Prospects Quietly Developing
On Friday night, the London Knights hosted the Kingston Frontenacs in a severely lopsided affair that ended 7-0 for the home side. Leafs assistant general manager (and Knights part-owner) Mark Hunter attended the game, to check up on the development of London’s JJ Piccinich and Nic Mattinen, as well as Kingston’s Stephen Desrocher, all of whom are Toronto prospects.
Here’s an update on these players that fly under the radar for Leafs fans, including their own thoughts on how their development has progressed this season.
JJ Piccinich
Drafted 103rd overall in 2014
One of the few Dave Nonis draft picks left in the Leafs’ system, right winger JJ Piccinich is known to most fans only for his hard-to-pronounce surname. Nonetheless, he’s been chipping away in junior for years now. A week ago, Piccinich was named captain of the London Knights in his second year with the team. As one of the Knights’ three allotted overage players, he has grown this season into one of the most dependable players on the team.
Piccinich is a fan favourite in London for his hard-working, physical style of play. He is one of several brutally effective power forwards on the Knights, playing on the second line behind 2016 first-rounder Max Jones. Since last season, he has developed an ability to play on both the powerplay and penalty kill, and has an acumen in front of the net that could be compared to that of James van Riemsdyk.
Early last season, Piccinich didn’t show much of an offensive upside but as the year progressed he seemed to learn from the example set by Matthew Tkachuk and, to some extent, Mitch Marner. He recorded 15 points in the OHL Playoffs and Memorial Cup, and was also one of London’s key shutdown forwards during tough series against the Erie Otters and Niagara IceDogs.
Now that the Knights’ historic top trio of Tkachuk, Marner, and Christian Dvorak has moved on, many expected much their lethal offence to lose much of its bite. However, London continues to average 4.5 goals per game (down from 4.69 a year ago), thanks to players like Piccinich and Jones filling in the gap.
Piccinich has 20 points now in 16 games, including a dominant four-point night in that 7-0 win over Kingston, his first as captain. On Friday he opened the scoring with a highlight reel goal in which he blew by all five Frontenacs in his own end to score on a breakaway, in the midst of a five-minute penalty kill where he and the Knights held Kingston to just three shots.
Piccinich has had a hell of a first game as captain so far. 4 points, and looks like a machine every time he’s on the ice. #tmltalk
— Charlie Clarke (@charliejclarke) November 12, 2016
“I think I’ve been seeing a lot more ice out there than I was last year,” said Piccinich on Friday night. “And when you cap the year off the way we did last year obviously you’re just trying to come back and continue that momentum and continue that energy.”
Piccinich has gotten to this level with his grinding play in the defensive zone and physical ability in front of the net, but it’s his newly-developed on-ice vision and passing that are making him stand out in London. He has phenomenal hockey sense in the neutral zone and has shown that he can lead an offensive effort just as well as he can shut one down.
Nic Mattinen
Drafted 179th overall in 2016
Perhaps one of the least-discussed picks made in the 2016 Draft, the sixth-round selection of Nic Mattinen was ignored by many as just Mark Hunter customarily picking a London Knight. Mattinen struggled to crack the Knights lineup last season, particularly in the playoffs, and was typically considered the team’s eighth defenceman.
So, given the limited exposure he received in his draft year, if there’s anybody that would have a good read on Mattinen it’s Hunter. He’s a physical player whose greatest asset is his 6’4″, 218 lb frame, but he has skills that are often lacking in a player of his size. Last season, with such large gaps in between his appearances, Mattinen appeared to be better every time he slotted into the Knights lineup.
“I feel like I’ve been getting a little better every game, so confidence is going up,” agreed Mattinen. “It’s good that the coaches have more confidence in me, so I can prove to them that I deserve the ice time.
This season, Mattinen has improved enough to be dressed every night, and has been granted some time on both the penalty kill and powerplay. He’s conventionally thought of as a stay-at-home player, given his ability to lay important checks and willingness to block shots, but his breakout pass is underrated and he has a heavy shot that can be a decent weapon through traffic.
Mattinen was one of the riskier picks of the 2016 draft, given that nobody really knew what he was, but he does have a good upside and has a lot of time left to grow in junior.
Coming into last year, not knowing what the [OHL] was like, at the start [it was] fast,” Mattinen pointed out. “I’ve been working a lot on my footspeed, and just my speed in general because I’m a big guy, so definitely been progressing on that point.”
Stephen Desrocher
Drafted 155th overall in 2015
The only true OHL veteran on this list, Desrocher was selected as an overager in 2015 after playing a critical role in the Oshawa Generals‘ Memorial Cup championship. One of the few players the Leafs picked that year who wasn’t a small, skilled winger, Desrocher is another big-bodied defenceman.
Like Mattinen, Desrocher has the size to be a commanding force at both ends of the ice. He’s Kingston’s best minute-eating defenceman, and (like both Piccinich and Mattinen) is counted on in all situations. As one of the most experienced players in the entire OHL, Desrocher was named captain of the Frontenacs a month ago.
“I’ve always thought even if I don’t have a letter that I try to be a leader as much as I can,” said Desrocher on Friday night, “but to wear the C is a big responsibility for me. I think I have a great team that’s really easy to lead.”
Desrocher does have the ability to put up points, and recorded 29 assists a year ago. He has a powerful shot that he likes to keep low on the ice, and has picked up a lot of his power-play assists that way. He’s a very smart defenceman, and despite his team losing 7-0 in London he actually played well, finishing with an even plus-minus and breaking up three odd-man rushes.
“I’m trying to work on things every game,” shrugged Desrocher. “Over the last couple couple years I’ve gotten better every year so I’m gonna try and keep that trend going.”
Desrocher has grown into one of the OHL’s most dependable defencemen, and will be looking to take a spot on the Toronto Marlies nest year. As far as Leafs OHL prospects go, he may be the defenceman with the most upside, although Mattinen has a lot more time to develop.
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