NHL Draft

Lee is up there with Zharovsky for the most purely fun skilled player on my list of draft profiles this year, with some similar but some different weaknesses that make him more likely to be a second- or third-round pick.

Zharovsky is one of the most purely fun, skilled players I've watched this year, but has question marks around the quality of competition he faced and how well you can project him to pro hockey.

Beauchesne is an averaged sized, right shot defenseman who has potential as a solid all around two-way defenseman. He may not have a lot of hype, but he's quietly been one of the more effective defenders in the OHL.

Psenicka made the jump from Czechia to the WHL halfway through the season but has made an immediate impact and big improvements already in his short time with Portland.

Wang will be the third ever Chinese-born player to be drafted to the NHL, thanks to his mix of size and skating and raw potential as a defenseman.

Brzustewicz is an interesting but raw two-way defenseman prospect who played with Cowan on the prospect factory that is the London Knights, and may be relatively unknown because of how blocked he is by the pure talent on the best team in the OHL.

Amico is arguably the best of the big defensive defensemen in this draft as far as his pure potentia. But a big question mark is a season-ending injury that kept him out of almost the entire year.

Schmidt is one of the smallest players in this draft, and the age old question of if he has enough skill to make up for that will likely see him fall a lot at the draft.

Kevan is one of my favourite prospects to watch in this year's draft in terms of pure fun with the puck on his stick, but he has some underrated off-puck skills to make him an interesting swing.

Nestrašil may be a bean pole, but he has the makings of a very interesting new age power forward with a blend of intelligent physicality and skill.

McKinney is my favourite forward in a relatively weak crop of the US National Development Program this year, but he's definitely interesting enough for a second round pick.

The big centre from Quebec is a different kind of player than you typically see come out of the QMJHL, one that I quite like and hope falls to Toronto.

It's draft season, so I thought I'd put all my mean thoughts about the draft, draft picks and the value of prospects in one place.

Tomorrow I start my annual tradition of writing way too many words on several prospects that will very likely not be drafted by the Leafs. Let's establish my process and list what I have to come.

We're at the finish line in a weird season when it comes to a set of prospects for the annual draft. Looking at some of the newer players I've followed before I finalize the list of players I'll profile in full for the 2025 NHL draft.

The World Juniors are over, Bob McKenzie's mid-season list dropped, and we're more than halfway through the season of many leagues. It's time for another look at some prospects for the NHL draft that seem interesting for Toronto.

Looking at the prospect rankings as of December 2024 to get an idea of what prospects I like may be available in the second round.

Bob McKenzie's first ranking of the season just dropped, and it's time for me to ignore everyone on it to see who the unnamed players are that could wind up as second rounders.

Check out the new prospects.

It's literally the final pick in the whole draft. You can all tune out now.

The deal is Max Ellis and a pick

With the 216th overall in the seventh round of the 2024 draft, the Maple Leafs selected Sam McCue from Owen Sound in the OHL. He is the younger brother of Easton Cowan's teammate in London, Max McCue. Younger McCue is a late 2005 birthday, with a above average

This is the pick that travelled to Toronto with Matt Murray

A goalie!

With the 152nd overall in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, the Maple Leafs selected Alexander Plesovskikh.