We all know the names.

Marner, Matthews, Nylander, Zaitsev, Brown, Hyman, Carrick. The buds are filled with rookies this year, and it seems like everyone is exceeding expectations (Shut up about Matthew’s scoring drought, he’s leading the Leafs in 5v5 CF% and his shooting percentage is down; Matthews on Puckalytics) . But, when you look to the next year or two, that’s when it get’s really exciting.

Tampa Bay is currently 11-6-1. They had 101 points in 2014. They made the Stanley Cup Finals in 2015. Eastern Conference Finalists in 2016. That is sustained success. Over the last 4 seasons the Lightning have had over 13 rookies in the lineup for more than 10 games, the Leafs this year have had 7, and you can expect an influx of them throughout the upcoming seasons.

Leafs prospects are dominating in almost every league. If I were to mention every prospect belonging to the blue and white we’d both die of an information overload. Instead I’ll stick to the most thrilling ones.

The Leafs second round pick last July; Yegor Korshkov, came as a surprise to some when they selected him 31st overall. Yet, Korshkov is currently 3rd in U21 scoring in the KHL at the age of 20, with 15 points in 29 games, already beating last year’s total of 12 points in 41 games. Meanwhile in Eastern Europe, one of the Leafs two 3rd round picks from 2016 is also performing quite well. Carl Grundstrom now has 8 goals in 19 games, beating last years total in 30 less games, making him tied for 4th in goals scored in the SHL.

The KHL isn’t the only place where Leafs rookies are performing well though. In the OHL we have Jeremy Bracco, who leads his team with 35 points in 17 games. Oh, and while being much over PPG, he is LITERALLY scoring at a point-per-game, having at least one point in each of his games played this season. Also in the O, there is Nikita Korestelev, who in his fourth year of junior has 28 points in 19 games. While that may not seem great, he is doing that as a 185th overall pick. Those are the kind of late round steals that provide you with infinite young possibilities for roster filling.

Out in the WHL, the Leafs 4th round selection in this past draft; Adam Brooks, has 26 points in 12 games as an over-age player while being the assistant captain of his Regina Pats. I’m not going to go too much into goaltending, but the bud’s 3rd round pick last year Joseph Woll is performing extremely well as the starter at Boston College, while Antoine Bibeau is playing worthy of a call up for the Marlies.

Speaking of the Marlies… A majority of the Leafs future lies there, and it’s exceptional. 22 year old Brendan Leipsic is tied for the league lead in scoring with 17 points in 12 games, and was player of the month in October. Kapanen was AHL player of the week in October as well, and has 7 goals in 12 games. Travis Dermott and Andrew Nielsen are the bright-light for the Leafs rookie defencemen, both performing very well as rookies, and with some of the Leafs weak defence some are calling for a call-up for Nielsen, after scoring 9 points in 12 games.

Some are overly optimistic about this year’s leafs, but no one can deny they are very exciting, and it’s tough to not jump with glee every time Marner feeds a beautiful pass to JVR for a goal, or Nylander and Matthews go off on a 2 on 1. However it is just as tough to not get even more excited when you look a year or two down the line and start to think about the many years of success it seems the Leafs upcoming rookies will bring them. A cup parade this year is for sure a longshot, but regarding 2018, 19, 20, 21? I don’t know why we haven’t already reserved our seats 😉

Thank you to anyone who made it this far! I hope you guys enjoyed my first blog, check back over the upcoming weeks for more if you enjoyed. Any constructive criticism is welcome, and if you want ANOTHER Leafs blogger to follow on twitter, follow me @DubasKnowsBest

Go Leafs Go, and remember Dubas Knows Best.