Season Preview: 3 players to watch on the Maple Leafs

theScore is previewing each team leading up to the 2016-17 season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs' rebuild is about to shift up a gear.

Years of suffering and accumulating draft picks have yielded a slew of prospects, a handful of which now appear primed to make an impact.

Here are three players to keep an eye on in blue and white this season:

Auston Matthews

The centerpiece of the Leafs' plans won't need any seasoning in junior or the AHL. He's ready.

Matthews has shown he can already hold his own at the pro level - playing in the Swiss league last season - and on the international stage, impressing with the U.S. at the World Championship and starring in Team North America's short-lived World Cup appearance.

Temper your expectations for the No. 1 overall pick from June's draft, but neither a 50-point season nor a Calder Trophy nomination would be shocking.

William Nylander

Nylander has already given Leafs fans a taste of his skill, scoring six times and adding seven assists in a 22-game NHL stint last season.

The 20-year-old will have a longer stay this time around, especially if he continues clicking with Matthews and Zach Hyman on a tantalizing all-prospect line.

Nylander has all the tools to succeed at the NHL level, and the eighth overall pick in 2014 should produce plenty of highlights in 2016-17.

Mitch Marner

Matthews and Nylander might be further along in their development, but Marner isn't far behind.

The 19-year-old tore up the OHL in his final two seasons with the London Knights, posting 242 points in 120 regular-season games and taking his game to another level in the 2016 playoffs, notching 44 points in 18 postseason contests.

Marner has a knack for highlight-reel plays himself, and should bring that ability to the Leafs on a regular basis before too long.