Drafted by the Leafs as a double-overager and quickly signed, Hildeby is already one of the biggest (6-foot-7), heaviest (222 pounds) goalies in the sport. He’s also starting to develop a really nice track record (a .921 save percentage in 28 SHL games across three years, and an AHL save percentage of .913 last year, though it has come back down to earth a little in the second half after a hot start). He outplayed veteran Matt Tomkins to go from backup to a tandem role in the SHL and outplayed all of the goalies who came through the Marlies last year (including Martin Jones).
He can look a little sluggish when plays break down and he has to scramble and move a lot, but he more than makes up for that with his strong tracking, positioning, angles, reads and rebound control. He’s also got good hands for a bigger goalie (sometimes larger goalies lack some coordination), which extends his range in the net even further.
There’s a lot to work with there and while it’s still early days in terms of sample size, he’s got the highest ceiling of the Leafs’ goalie prospects (though I also really like and nearly ranked Artur Akhtyamov) and looks like he’s on an NHL path. After another year in the AHL this season, I expect him to challenge for NHL starts in 2025-26.
2 comments
Slightly more promising magic beans
Got the 47th Ranked Skater and #20 Ranked Goaltender.
Not ideal as in we likely have a bottom 5-8 prospect pool but I guess it’s a positive we have some decent ones.