The Leafs have someone new at the draft table. What his past reveals about the future

New York Times

18 hours ago

After a combined 28 seasons working for two well-renowned teams in the scouting world, Mark Leach arrived in Toronto with a plan.
Through nearly three decades of work as an amateur scout with the Detroit Red Wings and the Dallas Stars, Leach has been part of organizations that have found Hall of Famers or NHL stars outside the first round, such as Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Tatar and Jason Robertson. Last summer, he was hired to run the Leafs' amateur scouting department.
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'I brought in a philosophy and a style that I've worked with through my past two organizations. A different perspective, and maybe a different way of doing things than they might have done in the past,' the Maple Leafs director of amateur scouting said in an exclusive interview. 'But with the people in Toronto, the transition has been smooth and easy.'
Previous director of amateur scouting Wes Clark had been promoted to the position after the 2021 draft. Clark helped guide the Leafs scouting staff to often go off board, find players with high-powered motors and unearth gems. In the last three drafts, Clark and the Leafs drafted current or likely future NHL players including Fraser Minten, Nikita Grebenkin and Easton Cowan.
Yet when Clark was hired as vice-president of player personnel by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Leafs GM Brad Treliving went off board himself. In Leach, he hired someone without any experience as a director of scouting.
'If you look back, he has a hell of a draft record,' Treliving said.
Treliving is hoping Leach's experience will transfer to Toronto. It will have to if Toronto has any hope of unearthing its next star contributor through the draft. The Leafs do not have a first-round pick in the draft later this month — or in the next two drafts afterward.
What could Leach's experience and philosophy mean for the Leafs?
Ask around on Leach and you'll hear variations of the same term to describe him: 'Hockey lifer.'
No diversions into different fields for this 63-year-old. The man lives and breathes the sport, and talks about it in a thick, Northeastern U.S. accent.
Leach is sandwiched in the middle of a hockey family. Three of his brothers either coached or played professionally, including Stephen Leach, who played for parts of 15 NHL seasons and Jay Leach, with several years as an NHL assistant coach on his resume. His family ties in the game remain: Leach's nephew Jay was a longtime pro and assistant coach and was a recent finalist for the Boston Bruins head coach job.
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Leach's own playing career might have been short: four years as a sturdy defender for St. Lawrence University in the early 1980s. But his transition into the next stage of his hockey career was relatively quick: he was an assistant coach for two years at Michigan Tech before catching on with the Red Wings as an amateur scout in 1996.
He formed a connection with Jim Nill. When the well-respected executive left his position as Red Wings assistant general manager to take over the top job in Dallas, Leach also went south. Leach began scouting the northeast United States and Quebec. Later in Leach's time with the Stars, he was one of three crossover scouts. Besides his area of expertise, he would frequently travel through rinks across the hockey world with fellow Stars scouts. His input became highly valued by Stars executives.
And over the past decade, the Stars themselves became known as one of the better-drafting teams in the NHL.
'We looked at players who had a heavy compete, heavy work ethic and had skill,' Leach said of the Stars' secret draft sauce.
Leach has been described as an 'old-school' scout: he likes to spend as much time as possible in rinks watching players up close, and encourages his scouts to do the same. In-person viewings are preferred to video scouting, which the Leafs often utilized under Clark.
'(Leach) really includes and pushes the area scouts for their involvement, and gives them a lot of responsibility,' Treliving said.
Being in arenas as much as possible allows Leach and his scouts to trust their own instincts when assessing players. Like Treliving, Leach is all about trusting his gut and relying on his experience when making decisions. And watching players live whenever possible allowed scouts like Leach to better understand player intangibles.
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Asked about the recent NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, Leach noted the event was a chance to learn about players' family histories and 'figuring out the people' the Leafs had on their draft list.
'We were an organization that went out and saw players live a lot,' Leach said of working with the Stars, before applying that to his time in Toronto. 'It's a matter of going out, seeing players and having a feel for them.'
When he sees players, Leach has a list of what he looks for.
The qualities on the list should not come as a surprise, given that Leach was hired by Treliving. Size, especially in defencemen, is relatively high on Leach's list of priorities.
There are four defencemen all over 6-foot-5 listed in a row from 39 to 42 on NHL Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters. Those players could hypothetically be available when the Leafs are scheduled to make their first pick at the end of the second round.
'I would be shocked if it's not a player like that,' said one NHL scout who knows Leach.
Leach enjoyed working with the Stars and the Red Wings because each organization valued late-round picks and appreciated that NHL players could be found outside the first round.
'He felt that's where we made our money,' said a Stars employee who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. 'And he had a really good eye for those late-developing types.'
That's another common thread heard about Leach: He's not afraid to bet big on players he believes might have a long development runway. Leach's experience suggests he believes in the payoff of players who might develop at a slower pace compared to their peers.
'There's a little bit of luck involved, things hitting at the right time and patience with their development,' Leach said of what makes a successful draft pick. 'You have to let them evolve and let them develop and take their steps along the way. There's not an exact straight line for these kids' development.'
One recent Stars draft pick for whom, multiple sources indicated, Leach pushed hard at the 2020 NHL Draft was Mavrik Bourque.
Before the draft, the crafty forward was considered highly skilled but undersized and defensively suspect, making him something of a divisive prospect. Bourque fell to the Stars at No. 30. He would play two more QMJHL seasons and then another two years in the AHL. Bourque led the AHL in points in his final season but still entered this season with fewer NHL games played than almost every 2020 first-round pick.
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'Some guys love the already-made guy,' the Stars employee said. 'Mark is one of those guys who loves the long-term development.'
Whispers about whether Bourque would ever fulfill his promise could be heard coming into this season.
'You have to be patient, let them (players) go through some hurdles and adversity,' Leach said.
Sure enough, Bourque has developed into more of an all-around forward whose on-ice vision has only improved. He looks like a key part of the Stars' future.
'I'm a big believer in skill,' Leach said. 'But there's some intangibles that come along the way. And so we have to take time and be patient with their development.'
His voice still rises with evident joy when discussing Bourque.
'(Bourque) was almost a step ahead of everybody else he was playing with. So maybe he wasn't the biggest guy, or the fastest player but his skill set and IQ set him apart for us,' Leach said. 'I think you need to have a couple elements to your game that will hopefully transcend into the NHL level. Usually at the top of the list is skill and hockey IQ. Those are the things I really look for.'
Leach's defence of Bourque provides clues into how the Leafs could draft in 2025 and beyond. The Leafs own the Florida Panthers' second-round pick, meaning it will be one of the last two picks of the round, depending on the Stanley Cup Final result.
'We have to be prepared, because you never know what Brad might do. He might trade somebody to get a pick, or things might happen. So we have prepared as if we have a first-round pick all the time,' Leach said.
But even if the Leafs stick at No. 63 or 64, you don't need to be an ardent Leafs fan to know there is value to be found late in the second round: Matthew Knies, now a key part of the franchise's future, was drafted at No. 57 in 2021. Leach was part of the Stars draft that snagged Roope Hintz late in the second round in 2015 as well.
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'(Leach's) feeling is that there are players to be found in every round,' Treliving said. 'His history has shown that.'
How does that happen? Leach argues that every organization thinks differently. The Leafs must stick to their organizational philosophy and have their draft list in order after careful review. Leach believes they could get lucky by seeing a player they have highly rated fall to them.
'It's happened before,' Leach said quickly, but knowingly.
Throughout this year, Leach has made his philosophy clear. People who have worked with Leach agree he favours players who he believes will show up when games become more tight-checking in the playoffs. If he sees players being outworked, it's likely they will fall lower, or off, his draft board.
'If he had a type, it's your classic, tough to play against player,' another Stars source said.
Leach also pushed hard for 2017 Stars draft pick and now one of the best goalies in the world, Jake Oettinger. Consider how Leach assessed him five years after the draft: 'Really competed in tough situations when the puck was right in front of him or in the slot area. He never gave up on plays. Just something special about his competitiveness and his will.'
Competitiveness is an area in which the Leafs might be lacking in the playoffs.
And so if Treliving is serious about changing the DNA of the Leafs and making them more difficult to play against in the future, the seeds of that change could take hold at the 2025 draft under Leach.
'When you put in compete and the work ethic into the mix, it makes for a kid, a young man to have a chance and have an opportunity to play at the highest level,' Leach said. 'Those are the elements that I look for in players. If there's good work ethic and good compete, it helps the ability.'
(Top photo of Mark Leach (left) and Jim Nill (right) posing for a photo with Jake Oettinger (centre) at the 2017 NHL Draft: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)