The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has signed forward Alex Steeves to a three year entry-level contract for the 2021-22 season.
Steeves, 21, skated in 29 games for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (NCAA), recording 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists) to lead Notre Dame and rank 10th among NCAA skaters, while earning a place on the B1G Second All-Star Team. Across three seasons at Notre Dame, Steeves recorded 69 points (33 goals, 36 assists) in 104 games and captured a B1G championship in 2019. Prior to playing at the University of Notre Dame, the Eden Prairie, Minn., native played two seasons with the Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) and recorded 75 points (26 goals, 49 assists) in 108 games and won the 2018 USHL Scholar-Athlete Award, earning a place on the USHL All-Academic Team.
Steeves was ranked by a number of the prominent scouting services in his draft year (2018) but went undrafted from 2018-2020:
2018 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #148 by ISS Hockey
2018 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #113 by FCHockey
2018 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #118 by McKeen’s Hockey
2018 NHL Entry Draft: Ranked #86 by NHL Central Scouting
Dubuque Fighting Saints #21 C Steeves, Alex (2018) – Alex is a late 99’ birth date, but it was a fairly mature game from the Notre Dame Commit. Steeves played with a lot of jump and used his speed in transition to create off the rush. Delivered some big hits and was physical on the forecheck. Assisted on the game-tying goal by Kudla with a nice feed from behind the net to Kudla who was coming down the slot from the point.
Dubuque Fighting Saints, #21 C Steeves, Alex (2018) – Alex was able to do some good things with the puck in the offensive zone and can create off the cycle. Steeves played with a purpose and physical presence all night. He was willing to fight an older, bigger player in Cole Hults after Steeves attempted a questionable hit in the neutral zone in the first period. Liked his compete level and willingness to go to the hard areas. Steeves is providing some decent offense for a bottom-six role for DBQ and will be a player to track for the 2018 Draft.
Notre Dame — Alex Steeves (2019): After spending what seemed like forever in the USHL (three seasons), Steeves finished his freshman campaign with University of Notre Dame where he registered seven goals and two assists in 39 games, playing primarily a bottom-six role for the Irish. Steeves didn’t see much in the way of power-play time, which is an area of his game where he can be effective with the added time and space. Steeves has some offensive skill and can make plays, but he needs time and space to execute.
Two players that could join the 4 SH/GP + Point-Per-Game Club in the USHL this year: Jack Hughes and Cole Caufield. Against NCAA competition, Caufield has 14 goals in 17 GP. His production might be getting Jack Hughes'd but his scoring is still impressive. #2019NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/WFzp2OFJ0T
— Hans (@S7Dsn) February 14, 2019