Our panel of 2016 Top 25 Under 25 (T25U25) bloggers and friends of the blog have filed their final rankings, and the completed list is in.
Last year, nine players went completely unranked by all of our panelists (not unranked in the overall T25U25, but actually unranked by each individual). They were: Martins Dzierkals, Stephen Desrocher, Pierre Engvall, Fabrice Herzog, Dakota Joshua, Andrew Nielsen, J.J. Piccinich, Nolan Vesey and Ryan Rupert.
This year, 48 players were eligible to be ranked, and 15 prospects remained unranked by all voters.
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Among them, were five of the same players who went unanimously unranked in 2015. All of Desrocher, Engvall, Joshua, Piccinich and Vesey failed to find their way into a top 25. Both Rupert and Herzog weren't eligible for this year's ranking because they are no longer considered to be part of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. While Dzierkals and Nielsen each had breakout seasons on route to receiving votes, readers will have to wait to find out if they made the cumulative Top 25 Under 25 -- and where.
Joining those who were unranked for the second consecutive year, were eight new faces. Marlies depth defender and former Chicago Blackhawks second round pick Justin Holl went unranked as a 24-year-old. Meanwhile, six 2016 draftees went unranked by our entire panel in their first year of eligibility.
Goaltender Joseph Woll, drafted 62nd overall by the Leafs and committed to Boston College for the 2016-17 season, was the highest drafted prospect in the 2016 class who went unranked.
Controversial fourth round pick Keaton Middleton, London Knights playoff healthy scratch Nicolas Mattinen, hybrid winger-defensemen Jack Walker, KHL bound overager Vladimir Boblyev, and Balashikha leading scorer Nikolai Chebykin all also missed out on finding their way into any of the top-25 rankings.
Sarnia Sting forward Nikita Korostelev and University of Minnesota-Duluth captain Dominic Toninato, who were both ranked by some of our panelists but didn't crack the 2015 T25U25, failed to impress enough to earn any votes amid growing depth in the Leafs system this time around.
The final prospect to go unranked, Trevor Moore, was a late addition to this year's eligible list after the Leafs signed the University of Denver standout to a three-year entry-level contract in July.
That leaves a total of 33 players who were ranked in at least one top-25 ranking, eight of whom didn't make the overall list.
Note: You can find the full list of eligible players here. Preview content will run throughout the next week, as we breakdown those who narrowly missed, before the countdown begins with No. 25 on Monday, August 8.
Which player would have made your Top 25 Under 25?
Justin Holl | 64 |
Joseph Woll | 683 |
Nicolas Mattinen | 12 |
Jack Walker | 88 |
Vladimir Bobylev | 100 |
Nikolai Chebykin | 25 |
Keaton Middleton | 68 |
JJ Piccinich | 266 |
Dakota Joshua | 8 |
Nolan Vesey | 38 |
Stephen Desrocher | 72 |
Pierre Engvall | 28 |
Dominic Toninato | 30 |
Nikita Korostelev | 163 |
Trevor Moore | 234 |
None of the above | 251 |
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