Welcome to my second 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile for potential Toronto Maple Leafs picks at 64! Last time, we covered Matthew Gard of the Red Deer Rebels and how his 6’4” profile could be an intriguing fit in this Leafs system.
Today, we’ll cover a forward prospect that’s more local, playing in the OHL. Like last time, I’ll outline his strengths and weaknesses, why he fits Brad Treliving’s vision for the team, and where I would rank him in Toronto’s prospect pool.
C–Tyler Hopkins–Kingston Frontenacs–OHL
6’1”–181 lbs–67 GP–20 G–31 A–51 PTS
My Ranking: #65
Elite Prospects Consolidated Ranking: #83
Tyler Hopkins has been on my radar since his showing with Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer. He was one of the lesser-used forwards at the tournament for Canada. Outside of a few stretches when guys like Kilfoil or Romano struggled, he was essentially Canada’s 13th Forward.
There was a notable jump this year in production for Hopkins in his second full OHL season, going from just 13 points in 59 games to 51 points this year as a focal point of Kingston’s top-six. Kingston was one of the top teams in the OHL this year, placing sixth out of 20 teams and finishing third in the Eastern Conference behind the Jake O’Brien-led Bulldogs and Kashawn Aitcheson’s Barrie Colts.
Strengths
Head and feet
The first thing that comes to mind with Tyler Hopkins is the details. There are rarely shifts where he’s not in the right position. He played a lot as the F3 on the forecheck for Kingston, and so you don’t see him barreling in on the forecheck often, but he’s so sound and responsible in that F3 role. He is always up and scanning to make sure he’s above the play, and he makes timely, educated pinches to cut off opposing forwards coming back down low to support the defencemen. When he is one of the first two forwards in, he arrives with pace and tenacity.
I also really like his skating. It’s an easy-looking stride, and he can get going when he needs to hit that next gear without looking like he’s labouring to do so. The fundamentals are very good, and he looks like he’s gliding out on the ice. He stays active across all three zones, too. He consistently comes back down below the dots to support his defencemen behind the net, and he has an active stick that breaks up passing lanes and hassles opposing players.
PK specialist
He’s been on Kingston’s first penalty kill unit this year, and he’s done a great job in that role as well. He gets low in his stance, disrupts shooting lanes, and he’s very effective at using his reach to force and funnel passes down into the corner. He’s a great communicator on the penalty kill, constantly organizing his partner on coverage whenever the unit tries to reorganize after a scramble. I’m not sure how much Toronto’s penalty kill will change now that Lane Lambert has gotten a head coaching gig with Seattle, but Hopkins would’ve fit Toronto’s “triangle-and-one” penalty kill scheme from this past year really well.
Individual creation
Getting back to the point about details, I was also a big fan of how committed Hopkins was at filling his rush lanes this season. He was constantly driving the net hard when he didn’t have the puck, regardless of whether he was going to be on the receiving end of a pass or not. Once he got into the netfront, he battled hard, spinning off defenders, pushing to create space for himself and trying to screen the goalie to the best of his ability.
I also like the flashes of potential he’s shown when he has some open ice in front of him and he can try to create. I mentioned in my last article about how Gard’s lack of explosiveness makes it hard for him to create individually, and I don’t think that’s an issue for Hopkins. He builds speed well through the neutral zone, and that, paired with some nice hands, allows him to sometimes catch opposing players off guard off the rush. I specifically remember a play against Barrie in the playoffs where he just toasted Canucks prospect Riley Patterson at the blue line.
It would have been perfect if he were a right-handed centre, but regardless, Hopkins’ profile has all the makings of what a Treliving and Berube team values in their bottom-six centres.
Weaknesses
Hopkins’ roadblock is currently putting it all together. On paper, a cerebral, responsible centre that skates well, has good hands, all wrapped up in a 6’1” frame, should be a shoo-in first-round pick. Unfortunately for Hopkins, he hasn’t found any consistency offensively this year despite the uptick in his counting stats.
Fighting the puck
I’m not sure if it’s perhaps Kingston’s system of long stretch passes from the blueline, but Hopkins’ ability to maintain control of the puck seems to be an issue. He’s always deflecting the puck or getting a touch on it on breakout passes, but he can’t seem to corral it under pressure, and then get moving up ice with possession. It’s a weird problem for a player like him to have; the hands and skating are good, but whether it’s an inability to read and react to the puck at high speeds or a lack of confidence to maintain the puck under pressure, it often feels like he’s really fighting the puck.
The passing is also a point of weakness. I love his ideas, and he’s demonstrated a level of deception and higher-level thinking with his passes, but all his passes seem to have too much zip on them for his teammates to receive easily. He lacks that touch with the puck that some of the better passing forwards in the CHL have, where they can differentiate when to use a light saucer pass or a shot pass, etc. It’s led to a lot of disjointed shifts where his line doesn’t end up doing much on the ice when they have possession.
Not there yet
I also mentioned earlier that I like Hopkins’ explosiveness and ability to catch defenders off guard; unfortunately, he’s still very much a direct player. While he has no issues building speed, he struggles to convert that speed into power, which leads to him being directed into the corners and going around the net instead of being able to drive the net.
Therein lies the problem with Tyler Hopkins: he’s a cerebral player who’s trusted a ton defensively, and he’s able to protect pucks on the perimeter and in the cycle, but there’s still that lack of ability to create for himself consistently and to connect on plays with his teammates. It makes him a great support player, but unless his touch with the puck vastly improves, and he can start making plays in tight spaces, I don’t see as much of an offensive upside for him compared to someone like Matthew Gard, who has the puck skills in tight and the above average movement skills at a behemoth size.
Fit
Like Gard, there’s a lot to like here with Hopkins. I feel like I must reiterate this: at Pick 64 in a weaker draft class, it’s unlikely to find an amazing top-nine contributor, let alone some hidden gem top-six playdriver.
I really do love the overall package that the 6’1” Campbellville, Ontario-born centre brings, though. Hopkins plays a cerebral game to complement a high compete level, strong two-way play and adds a pro-sized centre to a system that sorely needs one with the departure of Fraser Minten.
There are real question marks about how much offence he’ll be able to bring if he can’t improve his on-puck play, but without those questions, he wouldn’t be available at 64. He’s a highly projectable NHL player, even if his on-puck play only improves marginally. Additionally, with Cedrick Guindon, Kingston’s first-line centre, aging out for the 2025–26 season, it provides Hopkins a pathway to the first line and first power-play unit.
Hopkins is another prospect who I think strikes a good balance between projectability (likelihood of making the NHL) and flashes of being a creator offensively with his hands and pace. If I had to place him in the Leafs Prospect Pool Hierarchy, like Gard, I’d likely have him just below Noah Chadwick and above Miroslav Holinka.
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