The Toronto Maple Leafs finally kicked off their 2026 T25U25 rankings this week, and the first guy on the board, Rylan Fellinger, is a total wild card. He landed at #25, but the source says he is a “promising prospect you have probably never heard of.” Talk about a deep cut to start things off, right?
Who Even *Are* These Guys?! Digging Into the Official Vote
Okay, so Fellinger snagged that #25 spot with a weighted average of 23.18, and only four voters gave him a nod. He barely edged out Borya Valis at #26 by a tiny 0.27 points. These early ranks are super close, with players all clustered around a 23 average. Then came Ryan Tverberg at #24, pulling a 23.73 average. He got eight votes, double Fellinger’s count, which experts say marks a “pretty serious distinction” from the group below him. Tverberg’s got more consensus, even if the numbers look close. Rounding out this week’s reveals, Cooper Williams locked in at #23 with a 22.27 average. He also snagged eight votes, making a similar jump as Tverberg. Williams is an archetype the Leafs have liked under *three* different GM regimes, but his path to the NHL is still described as “long and steep.” That is the kind of honesty you want to hear, even if it is a bit of a gut punch for a guy at #23.
Community Says What? And What’s Next For This List?
Now, here is where it gets spicy. The Community Vote dropped, and it is a different beast. Fans can rank all 39 players or use the N/A box, which dumps players to the bottom. They crunch these numbers, treating anything below #25 or N/A as a 26 to get weighted averages. The official vote, with just under 300 responses, had enough votes to smooth out any “noise.” But the community vote showed real differences. Our mysterious #25, Rylan Fellinger, only came in at #38 on the community vote with a 25.37 average! Matthew Lahey was #39 at 25.58, then William Belle at #37, Brody Pepoy and Hayes Hundley tied at #36 and #35, and Alexander Plesovskikh at #34. The community is definitely not as high on Fellinger as the official voters. Next week is gonna be big! We are getting five new names, and experts say this “rapid rise up through the bottom few players will give way to another tier of players ranked by all the voters.” That means we are moving past the fringe guys to players everyone knows. Can’t wait to see who jumps up!
This is just the start, and already we are seeing splits in how prospects are viewed. Next week, when those five new names drop, we will get a clearer picture of the *real* blue-chip talent for the Maple Leafs. Get ready, because it is only gonna get more intense from here!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pension Plan Puppets.
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