Maple Leafs drafted a rare Chinese-born prospect with NHL upside

William Belle was Toronto's 137th overall pick in 2025 to not much fanfare but for the Dongguan, China native - it was a huge step in his path to the NHL.

The Toronto Maple Leafs' 2025 Draft was a mixed bag to say the least. They got some steals like Tinus Luc Koblar, Harry Nansi, and Tyler Hopkins but also struck out on names like Matthew Hlacar and Rylan Fellinger.

However they also added William Belle in the fifth round, which doesn't seem like a big deal but it was actually history for the Maple Leafs. See, Belle honed his craft with Shattuck St. Mary's and the USNTDP but he wasn't exactly entrenched in the sport right away because he was born in China.

William Belle's journey from Dongguan to Toronto is as wild as it sounds

In an interview with the Maple Leafs' Ryan Leslie, Belle was pressed to go deeper into his upbringing and it's quite the unique path for the 6-foot-4 power forward.

Yeah, well, my dad's American he's from Virginia. He just moved to China one day, decided to go; he didn't know anybody, didn't know the language. He met my mother, they had me.

That in and of itself is already interesting, and would make Belle just the fourth Chinese-born player after Simon Wang, Andong Song, and Kevin He. But it's how he got into hockey and skating in general that is less than traditional:

Yeah, skating. It actually started at a friend's birthday party, we were figure skating at the mall, and that graduated into off-bran Bauer gear, skates that were the same size as my shoes, blades weren't sharpened...I played lefty; now I'm a righty.

We'd take a train to Hong Kong, that was two hours; we'd stay in a hotel. We'd fly to Beijing once a month, try and find better games. I moved to Boston in 2015, so first eight years of my life I was in China.

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Off-brand gear? Dull blades? Didn't matter to Belle, as he fell in love with the game and decided to work tirelessly to get to where he is. It's a testament to his skills as he learned with discounted or second-hand equipment meanwhile his contemporaries overseas had access to the best equipment possible.

Belle's upbringing brings a humble side to a player with NHL potential

You obviously don't want to get to high on yourself but Belle deserves a lot of flowers and credit for working hard as a kid to gain the skills necessary to make the NHL. He's gigantic at 6-foot-4, 236 pounds and is a defensive monster on the ice.

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He's got a relentless engine and he skates all over the ice, while using his massive frame to crush opponents and take the puck that inevitably becomes loose after getting rocked. He plays a smart defensive style and often forces opponents into awkward positions.

Though he comes from a much different upbringing than most players, Belle isn't shy about wanting to win and is a pretty nasty cat if you rub him the wrong way:

I'm here to win, and I'm here to help my team. I don't care who you are - I'm gonna be in your face. That's just how I'm wired. That's just how I play.

That right there gives Belle hope for an NHL job as he may be a great bottom-six option. You're not getting a lot of offence from him but you're getting top-tier defence, a boatload of physicality, and a protector. As we've seen with the signings this summer, Toronto wanted to get bigger and better defensively.

Good thing they seem to have one in the pipeline with one of the most interesting backstories we've ever seen in the NHL.

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