Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving and Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Leach will be meeting with the media on Thursday in advance of the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday. The Leafs first pick will be the final pick in the second round (64th overall), after Treliving made a series of trade downs at last June in Las Vegas.
Toronto traded down eight slots with Anaheim in the first round and selected defenseman Ben Danford at #31 overall, and swapped the second rounder they acquired from the Ducks to the Florida Panthers for the 2025 second round pick and a 2024 seventh rounder (Nathan Mayes). The Leafs will also be selecting 86th, 137th, 153rd, 185th, and 217th overall.
Leach was a longtime scout with the Detroit Red Wings and was a big part of the Dallas Stars scouting staff, selected the likes of Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger, Jason Robertson, Thomas Harley, Wyatt Johnston, and Logan Stankoven over the last decade. It will be a challenge for the Leafs to restock the coffers after Toronto dealt prospects Nikita Grebenkin and Fraser Minten and their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, especially since they have only three picks in the 2026 Draft.
Finis For Another Finn
They are also seeing some of their prospects from the Kyle Dubas era leaving after a few seasons in North America. Earlier this month, the Leafs saw 2020 second-round pick Roni Hirvonen sign with Karpat of the Finnish SM-Liiga. On Monday, Toronto Marlies defenseman Topi Niemela signed a one-year deal with the Malmo Redhawks of the SHL.
Niemela was a third-rounder in 2020 and appeared to be a promising prospect after winning the best defenseman at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championships. After a strong season with Karpat, the speedy, skilled Finn had a down year in his home country but showed some promise in the Calder Cup Playoffs with the Marlies, scoring five points in seven games, and that promise carried over to his rookie AHL season with 39 points (8 goals, 31 assists), but he slumped in his sophomore season (2 goals, 20 assists in 61 games) and was taken off the Marlies top power play unit.
The 23-year-old is a restricted free agent and the Leafs can retain his rights (as with Hirvonen) if they extend a qualifying offer, which Toronto will likely do since it gives them control of an asset for no cost. What is unknown is if Niemela has any future with the size-conscious Leafs, who added big blueliners like Cade Webber into the fold last season.
Another Dubas midget that didn’t pan out.