Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan had a message for players at the team's prospect development camp last month: There are NHL jobs available, but it's up to them to step up and win them.

"He made it crystal clear to the people in the room that some of these kids are going to be vital pieces and impact pieces to our team moving forward," Maple Leafs director of player development Jim Hughes said. "We want to develop from within. We want to build our own players and build our own foundation. We've been doing that the last couple years. But for Brendan to make that statement and for the kids to hear his thoughts, his philosophies, his theories, it's important and it's a very positive message and it worked out well."

Now those players will come to training camp next month and attempt to put those thoughts into action.

Here's a look at the Maple Leafs' top 10 prospects, according to NHL.com:

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a few new faces heading into the 2014-15 season, beginning at the top with the hiring late last season of Hall of Fame member Brendan Shanahan as the team's new president and alternate governor.

Though Shanahan never played for his hometown team, he has brought a wealth of NHL experience to his new role as head of the Maple Leafs, both on the ice and in the executive suite, having left his job as the NHL's Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations to come put his stamp on Toronto.

General manager Dave Nonis was retained, as was coach Randy Carlyle, who saw his staff replaced by former Florida Panthers interim coach Peter Horachek and Steve Spott, who previously served as coach of the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

Nonis also had his office purged when assistant GMs Dave Poulin and Claude Loiselle were let go.

That's where things really changed for the Maple Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs figure to again be battling for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs until the end of the regular season. New president Brendan Shanahan retained general manager Dave Nonis and coach Randy Carlyle, but put his stamp on the franchise by imposing new assistant coaches on Carlyle and an untried wunderkind on Nonis, 28-year-old assistant general manager Kyle Dubas.

Here are five questions the Maple Leafs face as they embark on their quest to return to the playoffs for the second time in 11 years:

This summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs stepped up to demonstrate their faith in Jake Gardiner's abilities. Now it's up to the smooth-skating defenseman to deliver on the five-year, $20.5 million contract he signed with the team on July 29.

Rather than accept a short-term bridge deal, the 24-year-old Minnesota native elected to commit long term to Toronto through what should prove to be his prime years.

"I am happy to be a Leaf for a really long time," Gardiner told the Toronto Star. "That was a big part of it, commitment. I thought having five years and the money was awesome. The security for me was good. It just shows the Leafs have a lot of faith in me."

For a combination of reasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs became the flashpoint in a battle for acceptance of advanced statistics in hockey last season.

The Maple Leafs front office was famously not on board, and at the same time Toronto was one of the teams not performing the way those statistics said it should be. After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons, thanks in large part to a late-season swoon, the Maple Leafs made some major changes this offseason.

New president Brendan Shanahan did not make major personnel changes, but he did hire Kyle Dubas, an Ontario Hockey League general manager well versed in analytics, to join the front office. The new-look management group did try to improve the depth up front and on the back end.

After making an improbable run to the Southeast Division title in 2011-12, the Florida Panthers stumbled badly the past two seasons, finishing with the worst record in the NHL in 2012-13 and the second-worst last season.

The Panthers still have an abundance of highly touted prospects, either on their roster or in the system, and they also have a new coach in former Columbus Blue Jackets coach and former Montreal Canadiens assistant Gerard Gallant. But they also have a lot of question marks heading into next season, and here are five that jump out:

Dmitry Kulikov

Defense - FLA

GOALS: 8 | ASST: 11 | PTS: 19
SOG: 127 | +/-: -26

But there are a couple of other first-round picks from past years upon whom the Panthers will rely heavily in the upcoming season, two players at the core of Florida's youth movement on defense.

Dmitry Kulikov was the last Panthers first-round pick before Dale Tallon became the team's general manager, while Erik Gudbranson was Tallon's first No. 1 pick. Each was a restricted free agent this summer before being re-signed, Kulikov to a three-year contract and Gudbranson to a two-year contract.

NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout August.

The Florida Panthers' blueprint of building around their talented high draft picks hasn't changed. What general manager Dale Tallon is hoping is the addition of a coach with NHL experience and veterans who have won the Stanley Cup can get his team out of a two-year funk.

Florida finished last and next-to-last in the overall standings the past two seasons, but Tallon is thinking about the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2014-15.

"My goal is to compete for a playoff spot all the way right to the bitter end," Tallon said. "That's what we're looking to do. I think if everybody has years that live up to their potential and the players develop and come together as a team and with our new coach, our goaltending and another year of experience for our younger guys, I think this team has got the ability if we stay healthy to compete for a spot."

The Florida Panthers have been extremely busy building quite a formidable pool of prospects after choosing in the top five of the NHL Draft four of the past five years.

The time has come to begin reaping the benefits of those picks.

"I think bringing in [new coach] Gerard Gallant and his staff, coupled with the dynamic of what our roster looks like right now and what's coming through the pipeline will be a springboard moving forward," Panthers director of scouting Scott Luce told NHL.com. "I think we're going to be a significantly improved team this year. With the way our roster is set up and the great push of players set to come in, that combination will help us get to the next level."

Other than the New York Islanders, the Florida Panthers might be the team among the NHL's bottom-10 finishers from the 2013-14 season most likely to vault into playoff contention in 2014-15.

Florida did not make dramatic improvements through offseason additions, and how the Panthers play for a third coach in less than a year remains to be seen, but there are plenty of exciting young players to build around.

There were signs of serious improvement in the second half of last season, particularly in puck possession, after Peter Horachek replaced Kevin Dineen as coach. Horachek was not retained, though, and Gerard Gallant and his 147 games of NHL head coaching experience remains a bit of a mystery.

It was a curious offseason for the Panthers as well. Jussi Jokinen and Willie Mitchell look like solid additions, but the $27.5 million contract for Dave Bolland was panned as one of the worst of the offseason by a considerable portion of the hockey community. There are lots of prospects on the precipice of becoming NHL regulars, but not a lot of spots available unless veterans on one-way contracts are removed from the equation.

If a few young players turn into stars, Florida can fight for a playoff berth. If more growing pains are needed, it could be another long season.

Here's a look at the projected 2014-15 lineup for the Panthers: