Which Maple Leafs NCAA prospects are in need of contracts?

August 15th marks the deadline for signing college seniors and the Leafs have two of them on their reserve list. Veeti Miettinen of St Cloud State University and Mike Koster of the University of Minnesota. Given that nothing has been done so far, it’s a safe bet that both of these players will have their rights expire and become unrestricted free agents. Also notable is that both players have already established their intentions for the 2024-25 season, so this is a bit of non-news, but still something that seems worth revisiting as we look at the rest of the Maple Leafs prospect pool.

Mike Koster

Mike Koster’s junior year drew a lot of attention as he jumped up to 29 points in 40 games. The teammate of Matthew Knies looked like he too could one day be destined for the Leafs. The thing was, he benefited from playing with guys like Brock Faber, Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud, and obviously, Matthew Knies. As Faber, Knies, and Cooley departed the system, Koster’s numbers declined back down to his less impressive results, and while still a solid positional defenceman and a team captain, a lot of the upside of the 5’10 defender had eroded and with Brad Treliving’s mandate of “giants only” on the Leafs blueline, Koster made the reasonable decision to return to Minnesota for a 5th season.

The 5th season means that when August 15th rolls around the Leafs will still see Koster’s rights expire but it is also unlikely that we see Koster sign with any other team around the NHL or accept a professional contract of any kind. He’ll have one more go with the Golden Gophers and have the opportunity to test the free agent market when his season ends. He’ll be close to 24 at that time.

Minnesota is a great program and Koster has been one of the better players in it for a number of years, there is a possibility that the Leafs could be missing out on Koster. The recent success of Dakota Joshua might create some aversion to cutting ties to any prospect that could have perceived value to the Leafs organization, but with only 50 standard players contracts to give out the Leafs already sitting at 45 this year, not using one on Koster isn’t controversial, especially when the player likely drove this decision.

Koster was quick to recommit to Minnesota and will now have his choice of where he signs out of any interested parties that identify themselves next spring. I’d imagine teams looking at him would see him as a possible Troy Stecher type of depth option.

Veeti Miettinen

Miettinen steadily improved throughout his time at St. Cloud State and finished his senior year with a 20-goal season, the first of his NCAA career. He’s got speed, he’s a got a strong wrist shot, but he has a 5’9 frame and that could be the biggest deterrent for the Leafs. If he is going to be small he’d have to stand out more and while good, the Leafs aren’t the only organization that would probably it’s not worth burning a contract to find out if he can produce.

Miettinen’s plans for the 2024-25 season are already determined. He’ll be joining KalPa in the Finnish Liiga. It’s entirely possible that the Leafs will still be keeping an eye on what he can do over there but it seems far more likely that Miettinen’s return to his home country will be permanent.

It should also be noted that neither Koster or Miettinen were at the Maple Leafs development camp last month. NCAA and European signed players are eligible to attend that event and while Brandon Lisowsky who saw his rights relinquished by the Leafs was in attendance, the same wasn’t true for this duo. Lisowsky might still be looking for a spot in the Leafs organization on an AHL contract at some point and hasn’t determined his next step, while Koster and Miettinen have. It would seem to confirm the finality of the relationship between the Leafs and Koster and Miettinen though. Wyatt Schingoethe not attending the development camp also seems like a sign that he likely won’t be offered a contract from the Leafs next summer, and this shouldn’t surprise anyone.

The August 15th deadline also means that the Leafs will have the opportunity to pursue players who have had their rights expire by other NHL teams. The absence of CapFriendly makes it a little more difficult to identify the full list of who those players are and while there is nothing akin to the Justin Schultz sweepstakes of yesteryear, it is entirely possible that the Leafs may spend the latter part of this week exploring the potential for AHL contracts to build out their Cincinnati Cyclones roster.