24-Year-Old Leafs Prospect May Have His Hockey Career Cut Short

The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Ryan O'Connell in the 7th-round of the 2017 draft with the hopes of him becoming a NHL defenseman. However six-years later O'Connell might have lost his chance at being in the NHL.

Tomorrow marks the last day for any of drafted college players and O'Connell may wind up not having a professional hockey career.

O'Connell has spent the past 5 seasons with NCAA with Ohio State and Michigan Tech. In his four seasons with Ohio State O'Connell suited up for 117 games and only scored 25 points. In his final season with Michigan Tech O'Connell's struggles continued only collecting 3 assists in 35 games.

There are a number of prospects that are on expiring deals that the may be good risks for the Leafs to take.

There are 3 notable players the Leafs could acquire:

The former 3rd round pick of the Arizona Coyotes captained Harvard's hockey team last season.

He collected 20 points in 19 NCAA last seasonn and could make the jump to the NHL as soon as next season. He has let the Coyotes know he does not want to sign with the team.

The former the 2nd round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2019. He transferred from Boston University to play with the Arizona State Sun Devils.

In 38 games last season, Mastrimone recording an impressive 42 points which lead ASU in points. He has not signed a contract anywhere yet.

The last but certainly not least is a former first-round pick Jay O'Brien, he has gone unsigned and told the Flyers he will not be signing a contract with them.

In 39 games with Boston Univrsity last season O'Brien tallied 32 points in that span. Although his numbers are not as high the former 19th overall draft pick has a lot of potential and may be a high impact player to any team that signs him.

As Seen on Hockey Patrol - Leafs Prospects Career In Jeopardy If He Does Not Sign A Contract Today