2025 TLN Maple Leafs Prospect Rankings: #15 William Belle

The TLN Maple Leafs prospect rankings were compiled by a panel of seven TLN writers, each ranking our top 20 prospects to form a consensus group ranking.

Rather than hard and fast limits on age or NHL games played to determine “prospect” eligibility, our group decided on a more nuanced approach to include any reasonably young player who is either under contract with the Leafs or on the club’s reserve list, who has not yet established himself as a full-time NHLer.

As far as players the Toronto Maple Leafs selected during the 2025 NHL Draft, William Belle is one of the picks that got me both intrigued and excited.

For one thing, he is one of the most tantalizing prospects taken in the latter stages of the draft because he is a big winger standing at 6’4″ and weighing 225 pounds. Belle’s signature attribute is motor and his eagerness to be heavy on the forecheck, either with hits or disrupting the breakout. He takes pride in that being part of his repertoire as it is when he feels he is at his best when he is being a physical presence and wearing down the opposition.

But above all else, what gets me intrigued is the fact that Belle is striving to model his game after Tom Wilson and has hopes to bring the attributes that make the long-time Washington Capitals power-forward one of the most feared in the NHL. Interestingly enough, the two players are identical in terms of height, weight, and handiness, but the difference is that Wilson was taken in the first round in 2012 while Belle was drafted early in the fifth round.

“My game it’s simple, it’s north, south, fast 200-foot hockey. Forechecking, backchecking, playing physical. A player right now that I play a lot like would be Miles Wood, but somebody I think I could turn into would be a Tom Wilson type of player,” Belle said to reporters after getting drafted on June 28. “Just the power forward hockey that he can play, the simplicity of it. Just the physicality and that edge he has to him, the meanness. I feel like I can bring that.”

It would be premature to conclude that Belle is guaranteed to become the next Wilson or have a career similar to his. Belle is coming off two seasons playing with the USNTDP at various ranks and is committed to playing for the University of Notre Dame, meaning he won’t be a factor in the Leafs’ plans for quite some time. Even Matthew Knies had to spend two seasons with the University of Minnesota before he was able to make the jump to the NHL.

With that being said, the raw tools are there for Belle to be an effective physical force and a positive contributor in the bottom-six at the very least. Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis noted after the Leafs selected Belle that some players in the USHL consdiered him as one of the hardest to play against, which is impressive for a then-undrafted player looking to establish himself. Even if he tops out as a bottom-six power forward who is entrusted with shutting down the opposition, it would still be considered a successful pick and an outcome that many would be happy with.

Having said that, there is also potential for Belle to reach another level in his game and he needs to improve his offensive game and skating abilities if he wants to get there. He certainly has good awareness in the offensive zone of where to position himself and set up plays for his teammates, but his playmaking and shooting abilities could be better. He could probably get away with not generating a ton of offence on his own, but the skating is the most critical area that needs attention.

Belle could offset his lack of a shot by being a presence in the crease and willing to withstand the onslaught of defenders and the goalie trying to get him out of the way.  Not many players have the desire to park themselves in the crease, so a big guy like him would have an advantage over his opponents off the jump based on the size matchup. That alone would go a long way in diversifying his game, even just a little bit.

If nothing else, Belle’s unique journey to becoming an NHL draft pick makes him easy to root for. He spent his formative years in Dongguan, China and first got on the ice at six years old, where he learned how to skate with figure skates on a rink in a shopping mall. He and his family moved to Boston in 2015 to further his academics, where he initially had no intentions of improving his stock as an NHL prospect until his dedication to getting stronger caught the attention of the coaching staff at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, the Minnesota prep hockey powerhouse.

Belle was already one of the more intriguing prospects of the Leafs’ 2025 class based on his size and play style. The fact that he is trying to become a Wilson-esque player and his unorthodox pathway to Toronto’s system make his development certainly worth keeping track of.