The Toronto Maple Leafs have taken Zach Olsen with the 73rd overall pick in the third round of the 2026 Entry Draft. This pick was just received in the Brandon Carlo trade.

Vitals

  • Position: Right-shot winger
  • League(s): WHL
  • Height: 6'1"
  • Weight: 203 lbs
  • Birthdate: Mar 16, 2008

Career

Rankings

  • Pronman: 102nd
  • Elite Prospects: 89th
  • Scott Wheeler: 70th
  • McKeens: 69th
  • Upside Hockey: 86th
  • HockeyProspect.com: 93rd
  • NHL Central Scouting: 36th among North American skaters

Who Is Zach Olsen?

Here's his tracking data:

Here are some scouting reports from various outlets:

Elite Prospects

As a 16-year-old WHL rookie, Zac Olsen’s speed and physical skills quickly earned him a middle-six role with the Saskatoon Blades, a hard-working, diligent team. This season, reprised that role, playing roughly the same, only receiving a modest
bump in power play usage, but he still found a way to rise draft boards all year long.
Stride for stride, few players can match Olsen. He weaponizes his speed with intense forechecking pressure, straight-line attacks, and heavy collisions. He plays an intense defensive game, too, and his posture allows him to simply run over
opponents trying to get fancy with the puck. When play comes back the other way, Olsen is a shoot-first threat, launching quick-release shots from distance and ripping passes toward the net.
For the most part, Olsen played a direct, chip-and-chase style. In some games, he was completely eliminated offensively because he couldn’t get off the walls in transition. His lack of vision was a frequent limiter. There were also games where he showed the solutions, highlighted in a report by crossover scout Simon Desjardins: “In transition, he entered the zone with speed, drew players out of play before hitting a trailer, etc. More importantly, his playmaking, which was an area for improvement in previous viewings, looked much better, too. Nothing too fancy or creative, but he spotted teammates in the slot, delayed, and centred a few pucks from the boards.”
Equally as pressing, Olsen also has nights when his physical presence simply doesn’t appear. He ends up chasing the play and making little impact. Finding the extra urgency every night, along with his developing playmaking, could make him a bottom-six buzzsaw.

McKeen's Hockey

Olsen is the type of player that you need to watch closely to fully appreciate, because his modest point totals don't accurately reflect how good he is or how high his chances are of having a long NHL career.
Every successful team has depth players who bring physicality and energy, kill penalties, and just make life harder for opposing teams in general, and that's precisely the kind of roster piece that Olsen is. And when it comes to the 2026 draft class, there aren't many candidates who can do that sort of job better than he can. That's why Hockey Canada brought him to this year's final U18 tournament, where he started as a fringe forward but steadily worked his way higher and higher into a bigger role. He’s a very direct kind of attacker, using his speed and hustle to apply pressure on opponents. There’s not much there for him offensively, and it seems unlikely that those tools will advance much further for him from here even as he continues to develop, but he'll be a guy who can force turnovers on the forecheck and gets himself around the puck a lot, so occasional point production should follow from that. Even though he uses his body and does get under the skin of other teams, it would be nice to see him take things even further in each of these areas so that he could truly become one of the sport’s premier players in this kind of role.
Expect Olsen to get selected by a team with a small number of picks that can't afford to take a risk and needs someone who is highly likely to play NHL games in some capacity, or by a rebuilding club that is already loaded with high-octane forward prospects and needs guys who fit better down the lineup.

HockeyProspect.com

Zach Olsen is an intense winger for the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL who worked hard and made improvements to his game all year which landed him a spot on Canada’s U18 team for which he was not on the radar for at the start of the season. Olsen brought a bit of everything to the Blades forward group proving he can play in any situation and play hard in every zone proving his worth in the playoffs. He was consistent shift to shift and was relentless on both the forecheck and the backcheck making sure his presence was known. He is a relentless penalty killer matching his intensity that he brings five on five and pressuring opponents into making mistakes by playing his coverage tight.
Olsen is a very versatile player as he proved he could play up and down the lineup taking on whichever role he was tasked with. He attacks loose pucks and will make sure to finish his checks consistently. His offensive game is where he needs work, he has accuracy for his shot but needs to get more power to be more of a shooting option and become more well rounded. He is a good playmaker and has good hands while in motion as well. He has the potential to be able to keep up in fast paced environments and improve the play of other skilled players. With his aggression and intensity sometimes this leads to lapses in hockey sense as he can overcommit to lay a hit. Olsen will likely continue his development at Colorado College next season but may return as a top contributor in Saskatoon.

Upside Hockey

The 9th-place Saskatoon Blades drafted "C"-rated RW Zach Olsen (6'0.75",198lbs) with their second-round pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, at 29th-overall, and though he can reportedly play center, they are using him as a third-line winger. In my opinion, Olsen is the type of player that might be among the league's scoring leaders in another season or two- he's a nice blend of power, speed, and skill. From the Blades' bottom-six, the Calgary-born winger has been able to put up 13 goals and 26 points in 44 games (with 61 PIM), prorated to 20 goals and 40 points in 67 games. Olsen can play on any line, and he will gladly do the dirty work AND the heavy lifting for his linemates, in digging out pucks along the boards with his grit and compete, and going to the net to cause havok. He's got speed and handling ability, making him a contributor to his teams' transition with connective passing, or by carrying through the middle third with his quick feet and hands. Olsen is never outworked or outhustled- he leaves it all on the ice, supplying his teammates with energy, physicality, and intensity, and dragging them into the battle through all 200-feet of the ice. In the offensive zone, he uses his size and strength to power his way around (and through) defenders, drive the net, win pucks down low, and screen the goalie. Olsen's best asset is his finishing skills, and his underrated shot that he can get off in a hurry. I like this kid- he's noticeable every shift, and would be a good pick in the mid-to-late rounds.
NHL DraftMaple Leafs Prospects