The Toronto Maple Leafs are used to disrespect from the media, but after The Athletic ranked players 23-years of age or under, it’s hard to continue ignoring it.
Heading into the 2024/25 NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are confident they can chase the Stanley Cup, but with some top young prospects coming through, many believe they have a bright future as well.
Unfortunately though, not everyone sees it that way, as The Athletic have recently disrespected the team in a major way as they put together their list of best NHL players/prospects under the age of 23. While the top of the list made sense with the likes of Connor Bedard, Tim Stutzle and Macklin Celebrini all featuring heavily, it wouldn’t be until the 37th spot on the list that Matthew Knies makes an appearance. Beyond that however, it wouldn’t be until 114th on the list until another Maple Leaf comes up, with Easton Cowan coming in at 114 with Fraser Minten following later at 137th.While neither can lay claim to being the caliber of anyone in the top-10 alongside the likes of Bedard, Adam Fantili, Matvei Michkov and others, but to not have either even in the top-100 appears to be blatant bias against the Maple Leafs.Just last season, Minten played in 36 games with the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL, tallying a solid 19 goals and 19 points in that time, and with great size at 6-foot-2, he’s expected to be a middle-six forward for the Maple Leafs when the 20-year old officially makes the jump to the NHL.
As for Cowan, he was an absolute star for the OHL’s London Knights a year ago, with a differential of +38 alongside 34 goals and 96 points in 54 games showing that he has the potential to be just as good as any prospect outside of the top-10 on The Athletic’s list. Ultimately, given the market of the Maple Leafs, it’s no surprise that they are used in this way from sites such as The Athletic, but if they wish to have a list such as this taken more seriously, the clear bias needs to change, as No. 114 and 137 are very disrespectful for two of the Leafs most promising 34 goals and 96 points in 54 games showing that he has the potential to be just as good as any prospect outside of the top-10 on The Athletic’s list. Ultimately, given the market of the Maple Leafs, it’s no surprise that they are used in this way from sites such as The Athletic, but if they wish to have a list such as this taken more seriously, the clear bias needs to change, as No. 114 and 137 are very disrespectful for two of the Leafs most promising
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