Maple Leafs Draft Picks Officially Set as New Scouting Director Steps Into Spotlight

Mark Leach will have his first go at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs scouting table at this year's NHL Draft, having been an amateur scout with the Dallas Stars since 2013.

Dallas has been one of the top drafting teams outside of the lottery in recent years, with successful picks such as Roope Hintz at 49th in 2015, Jake Oettinger 26th and Jason Robertson 39th in 2017, Mavrik Bourque 30th in 2020, and Wyatt Johnston 23rd & Logan Stankoven 47th in 2021.

Leach joined now-current Stars General Manager Jim Nill and Director of Amateur Scouting Joe McDonnell from the Detroit Red Wings, who like Dallas now had succeeded from their ability to find NHLers late in the draft, serving as an unofficial understudy to McDonnell.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will need Leach to strike gold with their later picks as was done in Dallas, with Toronto not having a pick until 64th overall, acquired via the Florida Panthers.

In an ironic twist of fate, the Leafs losing to Florida in the second round of the NHL playoffs hurt their draft odds as well as the Leafs had traded their own pick to Arizona in a deal to acquire Ryan Dzingel & Ilya Lyubushkin. That pick, now owned by the Seattle Kraken, is at 57th overall.

Toronto swapped seconds with Florida at last draft, giving the Panthers their 2024 second (used to select Linus Eriksson). If Toronto had defeated Florida, the Leafs would have picked at 57th instead.

The Leafs will have the following picks,

Round 2: 64th overall,
Round 3: 86th
Round 5 : 137th, 153th
Round 6 : 185th
Round 7 : 217th

The 2025 NHL Draft will take place from June 27th-28th in Los Angeles.

At 64th overall, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have some options and the potential to pick an NHL-caliber talent.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will have new priorities in their draft plans for this year, but much of their same philosophy will remain intact.

Brad Treliving, who is actively involved in the Leafs draft planning, prefers adding size to the team, taking floor over upside. The Leafs 2024 NHL draft, which was decried as underwhelming due to the Leafs focus on low-upside players, was partially the result of Treliving's preference on keeping things safe and adding size, evident by all their picks being 6'0 or taller.

Dallas, when Leach was around, had not been afraid to take some smaller players such as Bourque and Stankoven, both with high upside but undersized, now doing well in the NHL.

Treliving's insistence on avoiding taking big swings is known, something that wasn't the doing of now-former head scout Wes Clark, although it wasn't the reason for his departure.

The understanding fron the Leafs camp is that Toronto appears to be leaning towards a forward at 64th, having traded away Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin, and Easton Cowan potentially graduating leaving the cupboard bare up front, although defense is a possibility depending on who is available.

If the Leafs do focus on forward, they will likely want a bit of size and adding a defensively responsible one at that, two names stand out from the Ontario Hockey League in Ethan Czata of the Niagara IceDogs and Tyler Hopkins of the Kingston Frontenacs.

Czata had 21 goals and 55 points in 68 games for Niagara this season, showcasing the ability to be a quality two-way center although his production dipped as Niagara collapsed late in the regular season.

Czata had a goal and five points for Canada at the U18 Worlds, which could have raised his stock beyond the Leafs pick, but if he's there would fit exactly what the Leafs look for in a hard-working, defensively responsible player with good size at 6'1, although he'll need to bulk up at just 178lbs.

Hopkins had 20 goals and 51 points for Kingston, and is a reliable center with good defensive awareness, although he's more of a floor player than upside.

Hopkins had just a point in six games at the U18's as he showed more in terms of defense and physicality rather than offense in a bottom-six role, usually more defensive internationally.

One player who could really fit the Leafs is Owen Martin of the WHL Spokane Chiefs.

Martin is a bit flashier than Czata and Hopkins, having been a surprise breakout player in this draft despite being derailed by a leg injury that limited him to just 39 games and 34 points.

Martin is a high-effort two-way center who could also play on the wing, having quietly been one of the draft's most consistently engaged players, translatable even if the points don't always come as easy.

One more forward who could fit is winger Tomas Poletin. In what's perceived as a weak year from the Finnish league, the Czech Poletin has stood out as a mature two-way forward with strong skating and physicality. He's a powerful forward who can throw his weight around and move the puck.

Defensively, the Leafs may have a few options although a run on defenseman is expected early in the second leaving potential top-four defenders to dry up.

The Leafs could use help on the left-side to potentially take over in the top-four once Morgan Rielly is gone, having targeted RHD already last year with Ben Danford, and top prospects Topi Niemela & William Villeneuve both righties.

If the Leafs dream of size at LHD, they'd be salivating at 6'6 defenseman Jacob Rombach. The Lincoln Stars defenseman is a solid skater at his height who does well at carrying the puck and using his reach to battle on defense. Rombach could very well be gone at 64.

Follow 6'6 American leftie Mace'o Phillips of the NTDP is another player who could entice the Leafs, although 64 appears to be a bit early for Phillips, who underwhelmed this season for the U18 team but shows raw potential, a candidate at 86.

On the right side, 6'5 David Bedkowski could be a highly intriguing option. The Toronto-born Bedkowski lacks much in offense but is one of the most physically demanding and defensively skilled players in this draft. He's a highly intimidating player who plays a fierce game.

If Mark Leach is looking at his former team's history of success with smaller forwards, he could still target a sub-6'0 forward.

Tankathon has the Leafs taking 5'7 Adam Benak at 64 in their mock draft, perhaps a little too small for Toronto and a bit early, but there are some promising undersized players at 64th overall.

One name that stands out is Owen Griffin. The 5'10 center had been a solid, although not exceptional forward for the Oshawa Generals, playing alongside Ben Danford. Griffin had just 22 goals and 51 points for Oshawa in the regular season, a massive breakout in the playoffs saw Griffin have a whopping 29 points in 21 games for the Generals, more than double the next highest draft eligible in PTS.

Griffin's playoff rise, along with strong underlying stats and a solid defensive game for his size, is reminiscent of Easton Cowan in his draft year, although Cowan was bigger than Griffin and a lot more intense. He could be a candidate at 86th.

Toronto, who has a quality young goalie in Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz, who had been one of the NHL's top goalies this season while healthy, along with prospects Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov in net make taking a goalie early unlikely.

the Toronto Maple Leafs will be focused on size and players who put in the work this draft, something Brad Treliving has emphasized as important from top to bottom of the depth chart, now up to Mark Leach to deliver with the best players he can get, although finding balance between the skill Leach helped find in Dallas will need to balance with Treliving's wants for size and strength, the two hoping for common ground.