NCAA Free Agent Watch: Luke Haymes and Others

With the NCAA regular season over for every conference now, and with the conference playoffs either under way or starting soon, now is a good time to look at what potential college free agents may be interesting for Toronto. It also helps that various outlets, like Elite Prospects, are releasing guides with more detailed scouting reports and signing rumours have been published now too.

So, let's see who has been connected to Toronto, and who I think would be among the more interesting players in this year's crop.

Luke Haymes

Let's start with Haymes, who is the most relevant for two reasons – he has pretty strong ties to Toronto, and he is considered to be the best free agent coming out of the NCAA this year. For the first part, the Maple Leafs have been rumoured to be one of the most likely teams to sign him for most of this season, so Toronto has definitely been interested in him. What may help him decide to sign with Toronto over the other teams pushing hard for him is that the Leafs have a history of showing that interest. Haymes was part of Toronto's summer development camp for prospects back in 2023.

As far as how good Haymes is as a prospect, it's funny that in that linked development camp article I mentioned I wasn't very interested in him at the time. Well, in the season right after that Haymes had his breakout season, with 18 goals and 36 points in 31 games for Darmouth, more than doubling his previous season. He led the team in goals by 3 and in points by 11 despite being one of their younger players. His production at his age is on par with some of the better drafted prospects in the NCAA – not the true elite prospects mind you, but in the same range of the likes of Bradley Nadeau, Frank Nazar, and Isaac Howard.

Now, I give a slight penalty for playing in a weaker NCAA conference where the competition is easier. But there are two things that Haymes has going for him as an undrafted NCAA prospect: he's pretty young compared to most college free agents at only 21 years old, and his strengths and play style are very conducive to pro hockey. He has pro size at 6'1" and 192 lbs. In the offensive zone he has a bit of a power game, and generates a lot of quality scoring chances for himself. He achieves this by being a smart and physical player, winning board battles and getting pucks to the middle of the ice. He's also a capable defensive centre, helping push play in the right direction for his team.

I may not have been interested in Haymes much in the summer of 2023, but I am now. His weaknesses to work on would be based on his passing and transition play, but in the offensive and defensive zones he is already a menace. If Haymes' learned a lot from that development camp and turned it into a breakout season, he may be more likely to sign here thinking that if we helped him so much after just that brief time around the organization, we can help him even more if he's sticking around full time.

C.J. Foley

Foley isn't considered the top defenseman in this year's NCAA free agent list, but there's honestly some slim pickings at that position this year. Foley is actually younger than Haymes, having just turned 21 last month, and also his teammate on Dartmouth. Last season was his first in the NCAA, and while Haymes had his breakout and led the team in scoring, Foley finished third on the team and first among defenseman with 20 points in 32 games. This year he's even better, with 29 points in just 30 games – that actually leads the whole team, since Haymes missed half this season with an injury.

Foley's strengths definitely land on the puck moving, offensive generation side of play. He's not awful defensively, but he would need to make some improvements there. He's drawn some comparisons to Sam Malinski, who played most of this season on the Avalanche in the NHL. Since Foley is still relatively young for an NCAA free agent, he may not sign this year but he's one of the more intriguing names. He may have a more skewed profile but his strengths are arguably the highest level for anyone else I'll mention.

T.J. Hughes

Hughes, no relation to the Hughes brothers (Jack, Quinn, Luke) in the NHL, was considered one of the top NCAA free agents last year as well. He plays on Michigan, one of college hockey's top programs. I've seen a good chunk of him the past two years as I've followed Nick Moldenhauer. Despite the team having some top drafted prospects at forward – Gavin Brindley, Rutger McGroarty, Dylan Duke, Frank Nazar, Michael Hage – Hughes has been one of their top producing players. He was fourth on the team last year with 48 points in 41 games as their second line centre. This year he leads the more depleted team, as many of their top players turned pro, with 38 points in 36 games.

Hughes is a solid centre who is similar to Haymes in that he's very good at the little things – positioning, forechecking, skating routes, board battles, crashing the net, making quick decisions, and more. He has a good shot and is a better passer than Haymes, but his biggest problem is that he is just okay as a skater and also a bit smaller (5'11" and 185 lbs). That doesn't hold him back in college because he's one of those "got the dog in him" players, but without good skating either that's a combination that isn't usually a recipe for success. He has the smarts and decision making to keep up with higher paces, but it remains to be seen if he can make it work at higher levels. I think at the very least, he would be a solid AHL pro and worth signing – comparable to Quillan, in that sense. If Toronto's skills coaches can unlock more, especially with his skating? That would be huge, though him already being 23 makes that less likely.

Riley Thompson

Thompson is a 6'4", 201 lb centre for Ohio State. In his draft year, he was playing in an U18 AAA league in Canada, and then three years in the Central Canada Hockey League which is one of the very lesser known junior B leagues here. Last year, he made his NCAA debut at 21 years old at the University of Alaska-Anchorage and then transferred to Ohio State for this season. You could honestly say that until this season he has never played against high competition.

Now 22 years old, this year Thompson has been the 1C for one of the better teams in the Big 10 conference, which is one of the most competitive in the NCAA. He's third on the team in points, behind his two other linemates, with 31 in 37 games. He's also first on the team in goals with 17 and shots with 112. So he's not necessarily driving the offensive bus on his team or line, but he is adept at finishing off the sequence.

From the bits I've seen and the scouting reports I've read, Thompson sounds like another Quillan/Haymes but not necessarily at the same level. In the NCAA he has a strong two-way profile as a centre. He has strong attention to detail playing off the puck, supporting the defense in his own end with proper positioning. With the puck he plays a pretty simple but effective game. He makes quick passes and tries not to hold onto it very long, battles hard along the boards, and goes to the net for a deflection or rebound – where a lot of his goals this year came from – or at least cause chaos with his size to help his teammates. Honestly he sounds like the platonic ideal of a bottom six centre with his profile, which as a found wallet/free agent signing isn't a bad thing. At the very least I can see him having a successful AHL career.

Noah Beck

Beck is a 6'3", 205 lb left shot defenseman who is finishing his 5th NCAA season this year. He was actually drafted by St Louis in the 7th round way back in 2020, but went unsigned after having a very down season compared to his previous two. After back to back 20+ point seasons as a defenseman for Clarkson University, he had only 9 points in 30 games and was by far a team worst -17 when the second worst was -8. Depending on who you believe, that disastrous season led St Louis to reconsider signing him to a pro deal before his rights expired, and he returned to college for a fifth and final year.

This season, Beck transferred to Arizona State and had a comeback, setting personal bests with 29 points in 34 games and playing on their top pair in all situations. In the NCAA he's a very solid two-way defender – he is a good passer and can move the puck up the ice well with his feet, he is an elusive skater even if he isn't an elite one which helps him escape the first wave of a forecheck to retrieve dump ins, and without the puck he has both a good stick and good physicality to defend his blueline and his own zone. I'm not sure there's an NHLer in him considering he's turning 24 later this month, but he's another guy where I can see a solid AHL pro.

Dylan Hryckowian

The youngest player on this list at 20 years of age (turning 21 in May), Hryckowian is a 5'10" right winger who has been a top player wherever he's played in the last three seasons. In his draft year, he was a lesser known high school guy. He did well, but you have to be exceptional to get drafted out of high school leagues. The next season he joined the USHL and was in the top 10 in the league in scoring, with 65 points in 61 games. The next year he joined Northeastern in the NCAA and led the team as a freshman with 43 points in 32 games, while playing in one of the best conferences in college hockey. This year his production has dipped a bit, at 33 points in 33 games but with more goals.

While not the biggest player, Hryckowian is a little energizer bunny. He is constantly moving wherever he is on the ice and is able to make skilled plays at his top speeds, which is honestly not something many players can do without slowing down. He is high effort, which can be a good thing but also something that can bite smaller players in the behind if they're too reckless with it (cough Robertson cough). At his younger age he is probably not in a major rush to turn pro and can be more selective with who he chooses to sign with. He is a Canadian player, but from Quebec. So you can decide if that means he's more or less likely to sign with Toronto than if he was American these days lol.

Thanks for reading!

I put a lot of work into my prospect articles here, both for the draft and Toronto's prospects. I do it as a fun hobby for me, and I'd probably do it in some capacity even if PPP completely ceased to exist. But if you like reading my work, some support would go a long way! I pay for a few streaming services (CHL, NCAA, USHL, the occasional TSN options for international tournaments that are broadcast) to be able to reliably watch these prospects in good quality streams. I also pay for some prospect-specific resources, such as tracking data and scouting reports from outlets like Elite Prospects, Future Considerations, McKeen's Hockey, The Athletic, and more.

Being able to get paid for this helps me dedicate more time and resources to it, rather than to second/third jobs. And whatever money I make here, a lot of I reinvest back into my prospect work through in those streaming and scouting services. Like I said, I'd be doing whatever I can afford for this anyway, so any financial help I get through this is greatly appreciated!