3 takeaways from Brad Treliving and Mark Leach’s post-draft availabilities

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Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving and director of amateur scouting Mark Leach met with the media to discuss the 2025 NHL Draft class on Saturday.

With limited draft capital, Toronto put an emphasis on finding value and tenacity across the board, and didn’t appear to be too concerned about their prospects graduating to the NHL immediately.

Here are three takeaways from Treliving and Leach’s media availabilities.

Maple Leafs prioritized size, tenacity, with Panthers as clearly apparent model to follow

These aren’t going to be your older sibling’s Maple Leafs. Treliving and Leach both made it apparent there was a clear emphasis on size, physicality, tenacity and getting to the high-danger areas from this year’s class.

“We want guys who competed, we want players who battled, with great work ethic and if you have those elements in your game, you have a chance to get better at certain things,” Leach said.

“Now, again, some of these kids are going to have to find their role or their niche in the game and do what they have to do. When you find those kids with that work ethic, that compete, they know who they are, and they what type of game they have to play, they work on those elements, they’ll find a role. There’s a role for everybody. As you saw in the playoffs: size matters, toughness matters, competitiveness matters. We hope we fill some of those roles in some of those kids.”

It’s evident that size and tenacity were key priorities in the picks. Tinus Luc Koblar, who was selected at No. 64 overall, perhaps two rounds ahead of consensus opinion, is a 6-foot-3 centre who skates well and can get to the high-danger areas of the ice. Koblar told reporters that he looks up to Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar. And to be abundantly clear, it would be incredibly unfair to expect Kopitar-like results from Koblar down the line, but it’s a great example to model your game after.

Tyler Hopkins (No. 86 overall) models his game after Tampa Bay Lightning shutdown forward Anthony Cirelli. William Belle (No. 137 overall) is 6-foot-4 and is looking to emulate Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson. There’s a clear idea to find players who are tough, defensively responsible, who win puck battles and can crash the net. Not a single Leafs selection was under 6-foot-1 and it’s clear that size matters.

“You can’t chase it. Ultimately it’s a passion for the player that’s there. Along with the passion came there were players that had some size,” Treliving said.

It’s a copycat league and the next wave of Leafs prospects may be guided in the visage of the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers.

There won’t be any rush for the 2025 class to immediately graduate to the NHL

Player development is a major part of scouting and while there’s real excitement around this year’s class, don’t expect any of these players to make an immediate impact. Toronto took a dartboard approach and ultimately elected to find players who have traits that appeal to Treliving and Leach, but still need to work on critical elements.

Koblar was essentially selected because of his traits and athleticism, Hopkins is a centre who is already defensively responsible but needs to improve on his scoring touch, Belle is an excellent skater for his size but his raw scoring numbers are underwhelming, while Harry Nansi, Rylan Fellinger and Matthew Hlacar are projects in the way that most 5th-to-7th round picks are.

“You judge these draft days with a calendar not a stopwatch, but really happy with the work the guys did,” Treliving said.

It’s a telling quote and patience will be a virtue for a Maple Leafs team that worked to replenish its prospect pool with the potential idea of a few players developing into key contributors down the line, but there isn’t a prospect like Easton Cowan or Ben Danford who could reasonably compete for a roster spot in the short-term window.

Maple Leafs had real offers for No. 64 pick, scouts vouched for Tinus Luc Koblar

Treliving revealed that the Maple Leafs received offers for the No. 64 selection overall, but were enamoured by Koblar’s potential.

“We had some opportunities with our 2nd-round pick, but the gap we had to go down to was probably a little bit too far and the staff was really passionate about the pick there,” Treliving said.

Koblar was a somewhat surprising pick at No. 64 but it’s evident that he was Toronto’s player all along, and there was some concern he wouldn’t be available by the No. 86 selection. Hopkins represented excellent value at No. 86, with many scouts believing he’d be a real option in the second round.

The 17-year-old centre is one of the youngest players in the draft, a commonality he shares with Harry Nansi. It will be compelling to monitor Koblar’s progress in the Swedish Elite League, while continuing to round out his scoring touch. All of these players will be invited to the Maple Leafs’ summer development camp, a real chance to get an extended look at the class as a whole for the first time.

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