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Maple Leafs Prospect Roundup: Quillan gets the call, Hildeby holds the fort, Holinka stays hot

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A lot has gone wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs through the early part of the season, and injuries continue to exacerbate their struggles, but one man’s loss could be another’s gain. Top prospect Easton Cowan was recalled this past week after a pair of games with the Marlies and was immediately slotted onto a line with Matthew Knies on the opposite flank, and though he didn’t find the back of the net in his first game back, he continued to show that he is capable of playing with high-end players. With Nic Roy joining the long list of injured players prior to Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, Jacob Quillan was the next Marlie to get the call from the big club.

On the heels of another strong showing in training camp, Quillan has been the Marlies’ best player so far this season. Not only has he taken on big minutes in all situations, but he leads the Marlies with 14 points in 14 games. He was held off the scoresheet in the Marlies’ last game on Friday, but potted a shorthanded marker for his second goal of the season and added an assist in Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

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Tuesday against the Blues was just Quillan’s second taste of NHL action after getting into one game a season ago, but he certainly didn’t look out of place. He started the contest centering a line with Bobby McMann and Matias Maccelli, and he wasted little time getting into the action. On his first NHL shift of the season, Quillan took a puck in the neutral zone and dumped it in before using his speed to get in on the foreceheck and lay a solid hit on the retrieving blueliner. His speed and tenacity were notable, even in just 9:00 of ice time, and he finished the game with four hits, but his most notable moment came when he used his quick feet to take a pass in the neutral zone and burn Blues defenceman Tyler Tucker to create an odd-man chance. Given another opportunity, Quillan would have probably liked to fire a shot on net instead of trying to force a pass to Morgan Rielly that was broken up rather easily, but seeing him generate transition offence with his speed was still a welcome sight for a team that has struggled to do just that.

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It sounds like Scott Laughton isn’t far off a return to the Leafs lineup, but with several other names still on the injured list, and with the way he handled himself against the Blues, Quillan should get at least another game or two to prove he can be a positive contributor at the NHL level. The Leafs can certainly use his energy right now.

Notes from the rest of the prospect pool:

  • Dennis Hildeby has been thrown into a difficult situation this season, and he has acquitted himself quite well, given the circumstances. Prior to Joseph Woll’s return and with Cayden Primeau proving incapable of getting the job done, Hildeby was called upon to backup Anthony Stolarz. Hildeby’s first NHL action of the season came in relief of Stolarz against the Boston Bruins in which he stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced, he started the next day against Carolina and faced 47 shots in a losing effort, was then forced to relieve Stolarz against the Bruins once again a couple of days later, and he might have been the only Leaf who showed up for all 60 minutes in last Thursday’s overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Woll is back with the club now and has played well in his first two appearances, but even though he failed to register a win in any of his four appearances so far, Hildeby gave the floundering Leafs a chance to come away with points in each of those four outings.

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  • Tyler Hopkins hasn’t exploded offensively through the early part of the season the way some might have hoped, but he has still been a productive player, and one of his best games of the season came on Sunday against the Sarnia Sting. After posting an assist in the previous game, Hopkins scored a goal and added two helpers while firing three shots on goal in a 5-2 victory, bringing him to eight goals and nine assists in 20 games.

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  • Miroslav Holinka has been one of the most productive players in the WHL this season, currently tied for eighth in league scoring, and he has been particularly hot as of late. For the second straight game, he recorded a goal and an assist on Tuesday night, extending his point streak to five games and bringing him to 16 points in his last 10 games. For the season, Holinka is up to 11 goals and 19 assists in just 21 games. He’s looking more and more like a player who will be ready to step into the AHL next season and contribute.

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  • 2024 fourth-round pick Victor Johansson recently suited up for Sweden’s junior team for a three-game tune-up ahead of the World Juniors, and he did nothing to hurt his stock for the upcoming tournament. Through those three games against Slovakia, Finland, and Czechia, Johansson averaged just under 20 minutes of ice time and registered four assists. He has struggled to break through and earn a regular role with Leksands’ SHL club, but a strong showing at the World Juniors could propel him to a bigger opportunity at Sweden’s top level.
  • Ryan Tverberg had an impressive rookie year with the Marlies in 2023-24, posting 32 points in 46 games, but his production declined in a big way last season, finishing with just 11 points in 46 games. Coming into this season looking for a bounce back, Tverberg has gotten off to a good start. He has scored in each of his last two games and now has six points through his first 11 games of the season.

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  • Similarly to Tverberg, 2023 third-rounder Nick Moldenhauer came into the season looking to rebound from a disappointing sophomore season with the Michigan Wolverines. He scored his third goal of the season and added an assist in Friday’s blowout win over Penn State, and picked up another assist in Saturday’s rematch. With three goals through 14 games, Moldenhauer has matched last season’s total in 15 fewer games, and he is just two points shy of his final tally from a year ago.

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  • Drafted in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, netminder Timofei Obvintsev has flown way under the radar. He posted respectable numbers in Russia’s junior league a season ago in limited action, and his opportunities have been limited again this season in the VHL, Russia’s version of the AHL. He stopped all 12 shots he faced in his first relief appearance of the season, and has started two games since, with the most recent being a 29-save effort in a 2-1 loss. It is a very small sample size, but Obvintsev’s .926 SV% through three appearances should earn him a few more looks going forward.

Statistics from EliteProspects.com & NHL.com

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