NHL 20 Team Guide: Toronto Maple Leafs Player Ratings, Roster & Top Prospects

Still the young upstarts of the Atlantic Division, the core members of the Toronto Maple Leafs only get better with each passing season.

With a top-class goaltender, a collection of the most exciting forwards in the league, and, finally, a prestigious blueline corps, it’s only a matter of time before the Buds break past the first round of the playoffs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the best teams in NHL 20, with enough young talent locked down for the long-term that a dynasty can be forged in Franchise Mode.

In this NHL 20 team guide, you can find all of the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, the best Maple Leafs prospects, upcoming picks, and where the team and prospect pool needs improving.

The latest roster at the time (31 March Roster) was used for this guide.

Auston Matthews, Center, 90 OVR

Age: 21
Nationality: American
Position: Center Sniper
Height/Weight: 191cm, 98kg
Shoots: Left
Best Stats: 95 Poise, 93 Puck Control, 93 Deking, Passing, Offensive Awareness, Wrist Shot Accuracy

Even with the lockdown, the 2019/20 campaign has been Auston Matthews’ career-best, clocking in 47 goals, 80 points, and a +19 rating.

Perhaps most importantly, however, the American center played in all 70 of Toronto’s games to date – the first time Matthews has managed to avoid missing games since his rookie season.

In NHL 20, Matthews is one of the best players in the game, let alone one of the best young players, the best young centers, and one of the game’s best snipers.

Standing 191cm and 98kg, Matthews is a formidable skater to have on the ice, with his 93 puck control, 92 passing, 92 deking, 92 wrist shot accuracy, 91 slap shot accuracy, 92 offensive awareness, and 95 poise being just the tip of the iceberg of Matthews’ ability.

Morgan Rielly, Defenseman. 87 OVR

Age: 25
Nationality: Canadian
Position: Two-Way Defenseman
Height/Weight: 185cm, 98kg
Shoots: Left
Best Stats: 92 Endurance, 91 Offensive Awareness, Passing, Puck Control

While the Toronto Maple Leafs have been climbed back to relevancy, their defence was always the problem – with the exception of Morgan Rielly. The sure-handed Canadian defenseman has been just about the only rock on the Buds’ blueline for a while, but now he’s getting some help.

He may have only featured in 47 games this season, but Rielly managed to put together 27 points and a sturdy +6 rating while gobbling up just over 24 minutes per game.

Morgan Rielly is very well-rounded in NHL 20, as you’d expect from a top-tier two-way defenseman, and is still only 25-years-old.

He boasts 90-plus ratings across deking, passing, puck control, defensive awareness, offensive awareness, discipline, poise, acceleration, agility, endurance, and speed.

Frederik Andersen, Goaltender, 88 OVR

Age: 29
Nationality: Danish
Position: Hybrid Goaltender
Height/Weight: 193cm, 104kg
Glove: Left
Best Stats: 92 Recover, 91 Rebound Control, Vision

Frederik Andersen came out of a tandem in Anaheim to dominate the net in Toronto, putting up consistently strong seasons of 60-plus games with decent save percentage stats.

This season, with 52 games to his name, ‘The Great Dane’ has put up three shutouts, 29 wins, and a .909 save percentage.

Standing 193cm and 104kg, Andersen nearly fills the net in NHL 20, but the sturdy netminder can certainly move when called upon.

Andersen boasts 89 speed, 91 vision, 89 agility, 92 recover, and 91 rebound control. His only real weakness is at stick high, for which he still has a rating of 87 in NHL 20.

NHL 20 Toronto Maple Leafs Roster

From the latest update, 31 March Online Roster, this is how the Toronto Maple Leafs first lines start.

Zach Hyman (81) – Auston Matthews (90) – Mitchell Marner (90)
Morgan Rielly (87) – Tyson Barrie (85)
Frederik Andersen (88)

Name	Overall	Age	Position	Role	Shoots	Best Stats
Auston Matthews	90	21	Center	Sniper	Left	95 Poise, 93 Puck Control, 92 Passing
John Tavares	90	28	Center	Sniper	Left	94 Wrist Shot Accuracy, 94 Offensive Awareness, 94 Hand-Eye
Alexander Kerfoot	81	25	Center	Playmaker	Left	88 Durability, 88 Speed, 88 Agility
Jason Spezza	80	36	Center	Playmaker	Right	88 Durability, 87 Strength, 87 Balance
Denis Malgin	79	22	Center	Playmaker	Right	88 Deking, 88 Agility, 88 Discipline
Frederik Gauthier	77	24	Center	Two-Way Forward	Left	89 Durability, 88 Strength, 86 Body Checking
Andreas Johnsson	81	24	Left Wing	Sniper	Left	88 Durability, 88 Agility, 88 Acceleration
Zach Hyman	81	27	Left Wing	Two-Way	Right	88 Endurance, 87 Balance, 87 Slap Shot Power
Pierre Engvall	77	23	Left Wing	Two-Way	Left	87 Deking, 86 Agility, 85 Hand-Eye
Mitchell Marner	90	22	Right Wing	Playmaker	Right	95 Passing, 94 Puck Control, 93 Deking
William Nylander	85	23	Right Wing	Playmaker	Right	92 Agility, 91 Offensive Awareness, 91 Passing
Kasperi Kapanen	82	23	Right Wing	Two-Way	Right	90 Speed, 90 Discipline, 90 Acceleration
Ilya Mikheyev	80	24	Right Wing	Two-Way	Left	87 Strength, 87 Balance, 87 Wrist Shot Power
Kyle Clifford	78	28	Right Wing	Grinder	Left	92 Aggressiveness, 90 Fighting Skill, 90 Strength
Morgan Rielly	87	25	Defenseman	Two-Way	Left	91 Passing, 91 Puck Control, 91 Offensive Awareness
Tyson Barrie	85	28	Defenseman	Two-Way	Right	91 Passing, 90 Agility, 90 Endurance
Jake Muzzin	85	30	Defenseman	Two-Way	Left	91 Endurance, 89 Shot Blocking, 89 Offensive Awareness
Travis McDermott	81	22	Defenseman	Two-Way	Left	88 Acceleration, 88 Endurance, 88 Speed
Justin Holl	79	27	Defenseman	Defensive	Right	90 Durability, 86 Strength, 86 Stick Checking
Cody Ceci	79	25	Defenseman	Two-Way	Right	92 Endurance, 89 Slap Shot Power, 88 Wrist Shot Power
Martin Marincin	75	27	Defenseman	Two-Way	Left	88 Durability, 87 Balance, 87 Endurance
Frederik Andersen	88	29	Goaltender	Hybrid	Left	92 Recover, 91 Vision, 91 Rebound Control
Jack Campbell	80	27	Goaltender	Hybrid	Left	87 Passing, 86 Speed, 86 Recover

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a mighty outfit with their newfound defensive depth and superb stock of talented forwards. The Buds even have a back-up who’d be a near-starter with some teams.

Perhaps the only place that needs upgrading a bit is the left wing – assuming that you keep all of your right wingers on the right side.

While Zach Hyman and Andreas Johnsson are certainly useful players to have in the lines – presuming that Kyle Clifford is kept for special and particularly rowdy occasions as one of the game’s best enforcers – forward sets one to four are very lop-sided to the right wing.

In fact, all four center roles are well-stocked too. However, the Buds are right up against the cap ceiling, so some trades need to be made if you want to reinforce the left side.

Given the cap baggage being carried by the Maple Leafs, and contracts like the 79 OVR Cody Ceci, trades to make space would probably be for a loss, but assets to trade away are easy to identify.

Timothy Liljegren, Defenseman, 75 OVR

Age: 20
Nationality: Swedish
Position: Two-Way Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Potential: Elite med

Taken in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the Maple Leafs have been very patient with Timothy Liljegren, and this season looks to be the Swede’s last in the minors.

With an 11-game cameo in the NHL, Liljegren went back down to the Toronto Marlies to put up five goals and 30 points in a mere 40 games.

Still in need of another season in the AHL, Liljegren is certainly a good option for the NHL lines from the 2020/21 season in NHL 20.

If you really need, Liljegren may only have a 75 OVR rating, but the fleet-footed Swede already boasts a rating of 85 in wrist shot power, slap shot power, acceleration, agility, speed, and durability.

NHL 20 Toronto Maple Leafs Top Prospects

There are plenty of strong prospects making their way through the Buds’ prospect pool, with the most exciting being the two defensemen: Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin.

While Toronto are already well-stacked up the middle, the rate of development of Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Nicholas Robertson could prove to be very timely a few years down the line.

Name	Overall	Potential	Age	Position	Role	Best Stats
Timothy Liljegren	75	Elite med	20	Defenseman	Two-Way	85 Speed, 85 Durability, 85 Agility
Rasmus Sandin	78	Top 4 high	19	Defenseman	Two-Way	87 Slap Shot Power, 87 Wrist Shot Power, 85 Strength
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev	62	Top 6 med	18	Center	Playmaker	90 Discipline, 85 Durability, 84 Speed
Nicholas Robertson	62	Top 6 med	18	Center	Playmaker	85 Discipline, 85 Durability, 84 Acceleration
Jeremy Bracco	71	Top 6 med	22	Center	Playmaker	85 Durability, 85 Agility, 85 Speed
Mikhail Abramov	61	Top 6 low	18	Right Wing	Playmaker	85 Durability, 85 Discipline, 83 Slap Shot Power
Mac Hollowell	68	Top 6 med	20	Defenseman	Offensive	85 Durability, 84 Speed, 84 Acceleration
Mikko Kokkonen	64	Top 6 med	18	Defenseman	Two-Way	83 Slap Shot Power, 82 Wrist Shot Power, 80 Agility
Filip Kral	63	Top 6 med	19	Defenseman	Two-Way	85 Durability, 83 Discipline, 83 Slap Shot Power
Joseph Woll	67	Fringe Starter med	21	Goaltender	Hybrid	83 Speed, 83 Agility, 80 Puck Playing Frequency

Toronto Maple Leafs’ upcoming draft picks:

2020 Draft Picks: 2^nd (TOR), 4^th (TOR), 4^th (VGK), 5^th (VGK), 6^th (CAR), 6^th (TOR), 7^th (WPG), 7^th (SJS), 7^th (STL)
2021 Draft Picks: 1^st (TOR), 2^nd (TOR), 4^th (TOR), 5^th (TOR), 6^th (TOR), 7^th (TOR)
2022 Draft Picks: 1^st (TOR), 2^nd (TOR), 3^rd (TOR), 4^th (TOR), 5^th (TOR), 6^th (TOR), 7^th (TOR)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have enough young talent in the NHL lines and some future stars in the prospect pool, so keeping hold of draft picks isn’t a necessity.

That said, getting some talent in the system to reinforce the left wing over the next few years wouldn’t be a bad idea. The 2020 draft is well-stacked in NHL 20, so it might be worth trading away a bundle of the later round selections to pick a bit higher.

The Maple Leafs are so close to being a Stanley Cup favourite, and while bringing in a higher-rated top-six right winger is the obvious route to improve, staying the course would be perfectly fine too.

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