Scouting Reports on Toronto's 2024 Development Camp Roster

FORWARDS

Veit Oswald – A 6'2", 179 lb left winger who has played in Germany his whole life. He played last season in the top pro league (DEL) and had the highest U20 scoring, with 10 goals and 7 assists in 38 games and won the Rookie of the Year award. He also wore the "A" and led Germany in points with 3 goals and 2 assists in 4 games at the World Juniors last year. Scouting reports note concerns with his skating mechanics, but love his versatility on the penalty kill, "hockey IQ" and power elements to his game. He's a late 2004 birthday so he's still 19 years old, and arguably the most interesting prospect invited to the camp.

Ethan Whitcomb – A 6'4", 209 lb right winger who is a 20 year old re-entry guy who played in the USHL last year, and is joining UConn next year in the NCAA. He finished third on his team points in 18 goals and 44 assists in 60 games, also good for 17th in the entire USHL. Scouts like his combination of skill (passing, stickhandling) and power, and improved both his point production and tracking data by healthy amounts from last year. As you may expect, skating has always been his issue but he also had knocks on his decision making in trying to force plays. His improvement from last season was not insignificant, but since he's heading to the NCAA he's not likely to sign anything with any NHL team. Still, I count him as interesting.

Quinn Hutson – A 5'11", 170 lb right winger who is also the brother of top prospects, Lane and Cole Hutson. Quinn is the lone forward of his sibling group, and is already 22 years old with two years at Boston University in the NCAA under his belt. Last year he had 18 goals and 18 assists in 40 games, good for third on the team. He's a guy that is a bit undersized, but not by that much, and gets by thanks to a good mix of skill and smarts. He likely doesn't have a good enough level of skills and skating to get by, but he could make for an solid AHL guy. Like Whitcomb, he likely won't be looking for an AHL deal now, but will want to make a good impression to maybe turn pro if he has a great third season in the NCAA this coming year.

Brandon Lisowsky – A 5'9" winger who should be very familiar to Toronto fans. Lisowsky was a former draft pick, but the Leafs let his rights lapse after not signing him this summer. As a result, he is a free agent as a prospect. He is potentially done his WHL career, and may be looking to earn an AHL/ECHL deal as small, skilled, sniper forward who started showing some two-way versatility down the stretch. He may hope to sign with the Leafs due to familiarity, which I would think about on an AHL deal, or return for an overage season with Saskatoon. If you want more information on Lisowsky, I wrote about him a lot here – here is the substantive update I had on his game leading into the playoffs:

Maple Leafs Prospect Report: Playoffs Primer (and Update)

Get a quick update on 15 of Toronto’s prospects who finished their regular seasons this weekend or whose playoffs have already started.

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Dominik Petr – A 6'2" and 165 lb center/winger prospect from Czechia, Petr had been playing in Finland the previous two seasons. After going undrafted in his first year of eligibility, Petr was selected as an import draft pick by Brandon in the WHL, where he had a respectable 45 points in 67 games. His underlying tracking data looks okay, and he has a stronger history of producing and looking good on the international stage. He had a fair amount of hype going into his draft year, but really struggled to make it even in Finland's U20 junior league. His skating issues apparently really held him back, and he didn't have other tools like skill or size (165 lbs is pretty damn light, much less for a 6'2" guy) to make up for it. I'm mildly curious about him, but not all that much unless he really wows at the dev camp.

Maxim Muranov – A 6'2", 176 lb left winger from Russia who has played the last three seasons in the WHL with the Calgary Hitmen. He's improved a lot over those seasons, going from 13, to 28, and this year had 50 points. That's still not a great amount of production for a 20 year old in junior, despite being noted for having quick hands and nifty dekes. He also had notes skating issues in his past, and hasn't shown himself to be a defensive/two-way specialist to add additional versatility outside of his offense. Not that interesting.

Nathan Pilling – A 6'3" and 205 lb center who has played in the WHL for the past three years, albeit on three separate teams. he's never been a big point producer, with his best season coming this past year with 18 goals and 14 assists in 56 games. I sound like a broken record, but he has some skating issues that really hold him back. He has a good shot and likes to use it, but it is not elite and he doesn't have the skill to make use of it as much as he needs. I'm somewhat interested in him? But not a lot. All of these guys could be more interesting if Toronto worked miracles on their skating, but mostly as AHLers.

Jack Ricketts – A 24 year old, turning 25 in September, who is 6'1" and 194 lbs. He played the last four seasons in the NCAA for the College of the Holy Cross, where he was also the captain and top center. He was second on the team with 35 points in 39 games, and was a nominee for the Hobey Baker this past season. He's done with the NCAA at this point, so he'll certainly be looking for some kind of AHL or ECHL deal. With his age, he should look like one of the better players at the camp. I'm mildly interested.

Simon Tassy – A 6'1", 185 lbs winger who is already 23 years old and played the las two seasons in the NCAA. He moved from Minnesota State two years ago, to Wisconsin this past season. He had a decent season with 28 points in 40 games, good for third on the team. He is already pretty old for a prospect, and may not be looking for any contract given he's only done two years in the NCAA. I will say he has some nifty highlights stemming from his playmaking, enough to make me mildly interested to see what else he has in his game at this dev camp.

Kyle Bettens – A 6'3", 216 lb winger/center who is 22 years old, and has played in the NCAA the pat two seasons. This past season, he had 18 points in 36 games. He's big and is pretty good at using it where it helps the most – in front of the net, in the corners, along the boards, etc – but there's not much else that's interesting in his game.

Marshall Finnie – A 6'2", 190 lbs winger who played in the WHL with Edmonton, putting up 41 points in 67 games last year. Take what I said about Bettens, and apply it to Finnie. The difference with Finnie is he's also topped 100 penalty minutes in each of the last two seasons.

Martins Lavins – A 6'1", 185 lbs center from Latvia who has played in the USA the past three years. Two were in the USHL, and the last one was in the NCAA for New Hampshire. He had 14 points in 35 games, as well as having 3 points in 11 games for Latvia internationally. He's of a similar type as Bettens and Finnie.

Clint Levens – He's a 23 year old, 6'3" and 185 lbs center who only just played in his first NCAA season, and had only 3 points (all assists) in 24 games with Providence. He had 100 PIM seasons in all three years in the USHL before that. Not interested at all.

Nick Rheaume – A 6'3", 194 lbs center/winger who is 22 years old, Nick is the nephew of Manon Rheaume. He had 13 points in 34 games for UMass-Lowell last year, but has transferred to Northeastern – a much better program. He is in that same group with Bettens, Finnie and Levens. Not that interesting.

DEFENSEMEN

Michael Hagens – The older brother to Uber-American prospect James Hagens, who will very likely be taken first overall in the next NHL draft, Michael has been with the Chicago Steel the past two years and is committed to join Boston College in the NCAA next season. He's a 5'11" and 170 lb left shot defenseman, and had 32 points in 59 games in the USHL as a 19 year old. He is a good skater and has solid offensive, puck moving skills that don't necessarily translate to a lot of points but are better suited to transitions and getting the puck up the ice safely. He has pretty good defensive metrics in his tracking data for his size, but that will have a harder test in the NCAA next year. Because he's an NCAA commit and still pretty young, he won't be signing any contract so he's just an interesting player to follow for now.

Jack Brauti – a 5'11", 159 lb left shot defensemen who is the second youngest player invited to Toronto's dev camp as an 18 year old, Brauti was only first eligible for this past NHL draft. He plays for Barrie in the OHL, where he had 21 points in 62 games. He showed steady growth over the season, and is known as a bit of a jack of all trades who does a lot of things pretty well but nothing that spectacularly. He can move the puck well, by pass or by carrying it himself, he can defend pretty well at the level as well. His most standout traits are being a hard hitter for his size, and being a pretty creative passer. His lack of real game breaking abilities in any one area is likely why he went undrafted, considering his size and position. I'm interested to see how he looks all the same.

Maxim Dirracolo – A 6'4", 216 lb left shot defenseman, Dirracolo is the youngest invite to the dev camp with a June 29th, 2006 birthday. He split last season between the OJHL and then was called up for 31 games for Kitchener, where he had 5 points in 31 games on a pretty deep roster. He uses his size and strength to be a capable net-front defender, and has the reach and range in his skating to quickly influence play in a pretty wide bubble around him. He gets good reviews for creativity in what he attempts to do, but didn't show a consistent level of skill to pull them off enough times. If you consider him a late bloomer on a later development path, he may be interesting to keep an eye on. I want to see how his skating and skill looks in person.

Ryan McCleary – A 6'3", 181 lbs right shot defenseman who finished his fourth and likely final season in the WHL with Swift Current last year. He had a career best 36 points in 56 games, plus an additional 6 in 9 playoff games. He has very strong tracking data for his ability to drive transitions, thanks to a combination of being a creative passer as well as a crafty skater and puck handler. He's a late 2003 birthday, so he will be turning 21 in September. That makes him a bit old, but he has an interesting blend of skill and size that seems to be held back by unideal skating – even if it isn't terrible. I think he could be worth an AHL deal, and want to see him in person at the dev camp.

Brendan Fitzgerald – Son of the New Jersey Devils GM, Tom Fitzgerald, brother of Casey and Ryan Fitzgerald, and cousins with Jimmy and Kevin Hayes AND Brady and Matthew Tkachuk. Dude has NHL connections. Brendan is a 6'0", 161 lb left shot defenseman who just finished his first NCAA season with New Hampshire. He had 5 points, all assists, in 28 games after two years with meh point production in the USHL before. The bit I can look into doesn't really show much interesting.

Rhett Parsons – A 6'3", 201 lb right shot defenseman with a late 2003 birthday, Parsons finished four years with Medicine Hat in the WHL – wearing the "A" the past two seasons. His career high is 19 points in 68 games, and basically has no offensive skill to speak of. He does have some of the best defensive impacts in his tracking data, so you can consider him a Cade Webber-like specialist. I don't think he has the same level of skating to make him projectable to the NHL, but could make for an interesting AHL/ECHL project considering how much the new front office loves size and defensive defensemen.

GOALIES

Dawson Cowan – A 6'1"goalie out of the WHL, and only just 18 years old in his first year of eligibility for the NHL draft that just passed. He was a bit of a surprise to go undrafted, but if I were to guess his lack of size that scouts usually want in their goalies, plus his non-sterling stats even on a not great team likely explain why he went undrafted. He is the most interesting of the two goalie invites. I have him as mildly interesting.

Cameron Rowe – Rowe is a 23 year old NCAA goalie, five years older than Cowan. He's been a decent goalie but not spectacular four year career there split between Wisconsin and Western Michigan. He does have more of the size element that NHL teams like, but otherwise seems more like a guy. Maybe if Toronto wants an ECHL goalie if Cavallin and McKay are without contracts now? But that's it.

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!