The thing about prospect talk is that it’s generally most interesting when your team is playing its worst hockey.

We don’t talk about prospects because we love the Moose Jaw Warriors, or the Sudbury Wolves, or the Erie Otters — we talk about prospects because we love the Leafs but the Leafs are a bad hockey team. Well, the Maple Leafs have won two games in two nights so if we’re going to talk prospects, it had better be something groundbreaking, right?

How’s this: William Nylander is on pace to do something that neither Peter Forsberg, nor Mats Sundin, nor either Sedin has done — score a point per game in the Swedish Hockey League in his draft+1 year.

Nylander has 11 points through 8 games to start the year with MODO and while there’s a lot of season left to go, it’s awfully tough not to be captivated by the promise of the young Swede. If you start watching this clip at the 1:42 mark, you’ll probably get the sense that Nylander’s shot is already NHL-level. You’ll also notice that his skating will be an asset when he crosses the pond. The question with Nylander, as it was with Kadri, will have everything to do with size and strength. In the pre-season, it was pretty clear that he wasn’t strong enough for the NHL yet and heading back to Sweden where there’s less emphasis on physicality may have been a better decision than asking the slight center to play in the AHL. Ice time may have been a concern when Nylander was first sent back to MODO, but he’s played over 19-minutes a night to start the year which has put those concerns to bed. It’s early, but we may be witnessing the beginning of something pretty unprecedented.

Another 2014 draft pick who’s been making some noise is Kootenay Ice defenseman Rinat Valiev. The Russian defenseman was 2nd among ice defensemen in points last season and has picked up right where he left off with an impressive 8 points in 7 games to start the year in the WHL. Valiev is leading the Ice defense in scoring despite having played in only 7 of the team’s 19 games to start the year. Valiev also brings a physical presence that we haven’t seen from many of the Leafs‘ defensive prospects of late — only Loov brings a similar level of nastiness. There’s a pretty strong chance we see Valiev at the World Junior’s this year and he has been named to the Russian roster in the Subway Super Series, if you’re hoping to get a look at him.

It can’t all be good news, but I’ll let the chart tell the tale of the disappointments thus far, with Gauthier and Verhaeghe’s production being among the leading candidates.

Until next time, folks.

Maple Leafs Prospect Statistics - 2014-15

Last Update: Thursday, April 2.