This second last week of the T25 is where we used to see a lot of hopes and dreams for second- and third-round draft picks. Since the GMs of the Leafs just willfully keep trading these picks away, when they could be superstars, the ranking really jumps right from the faint hope maybe AHLers into the top rank of prospects.

Official Vote

Last week we finished off with the biggest leap up in weighted average ranking with Topi Niemelä at number 7 and a full 2.43 ranking spots higher than Miroslav Holinka below him. The big jumps keep coming in the four players ranked this week.

7 Dennis Hildeby

With a jump in ranking of 1.93, Hildeby comes in at 6.86, the first person whose ranking is a lower number than his placing.

2024 T25U25: Dennis Hildeby is #7
He’s very tall, and he’s very good.
PPP LeafsSpecies

6 Nikita Grebenkin

Soaring up the rankings is Nikita Grebenkin, 1.21 above Hildeby and coming in a 5.64.

2024 T25U25: Nikita Grebenkin is #6
There are some who call him.... Greb?
PPP LeafsBrian S

5 Ben Danford

Very nearly tied with Grebenkin, Danford is at 5.50.

2024 T25U25: Ben Danford is #5
Toronto’s latest top draft pick makes his debut in our top five, but it’s up to you to decide if that says more about him or the state of their prospect depth.
PPP LeafsBrian S

4 Nick Robertson

With a meaningful jump up to 1.21, Nick Robertson is the border player between the top three and everyone else, but that's not a unanimous opinion. A lot of voters ranked him third, but a group of less impressed voters had him down below some of the rest of the people listed above.

2024 T25U25: Nicholas Robertson is #4
Where does Nrob stand five years into his career with the Leafs?
PPP LeafsHardev

Community Vote

7 Topi Niemelä

With a weighted average ranking of 8.82, Niemelä was ranked in a very tight consensus right around where he landed – one spot higher than on the official vote.

The surprise is the strength of the votes higher than seventh. He marks out the first person not ranked below 25 by anyone (4 N/A votes might indicate unfinished ballots).

6 Ben Danford

Danford got a lot of "first-round" votes that put him strongly in sixth place with a ranking of 7.38. Only a couple of people forgot about him down where he started on the list as a young player.

5 Dennis Hildeby

Hildeby has all the buzz, and that got him up over Danford and into fifth place, two places higher than on the Official Vote.

There is a little bit more of a trail of doubt off to the right, but note the y-axis, this is a strongly held opinion on his value. Goalies are always a safe bet, right?

4 Fraser Minten

On the one hand, Minten, who played in the NHL last year as a teenager, got the strongest consensus vote so far. On the other hand, that's a lot of people who think at least four or even five other players are better than him.

His average ranking is at 4.89, leaving an interesting amount of room for the top three next week.

The top three are next week, and you know who they are, you likely can guess the order, but that doesn't mean there won't be surprises because the days of unanimous votes are over. See you next week as we wrap up this year's T25.

Top 25 Under 25