Maple Leafs' Head Scout Has History of Excellence

Finding diamonds in the rough isn't supposed to be easy, but Mark Leach – now the Toronto Maple Leafs' director of amateur scouting – has made a living out of it. Many don't know about Leach, but they do know his work, which has been building a reputation for identifying undervalued talent. 

Before being drafted, Pavel Datsyuk was considered a weak skater and undersized, with underwhelming stats to show for it in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) before being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1998. Henrik Zetterberg was drafted by Detroit a year later than Datsyuk, and was also considered undersized, without any promising stats to show for it.

What do Zetterberg and Datsyuk have in common? Both are among some of the biggest draft steals in NHL history, with Datsyuk being selected in the sixth round and Zetterberg being selected in the seventh round, according to HockeyReference.com.

The two players are Red Wing legends who were drafted by a Detroit scouting team, with Leach's fingerprints having an influence not only then but to this day. From 1996 to 2024, Leach was an amateur scout for the Red Wings and Dallas Stars, where his resume for finding unpromised talent was shown time and time again.

 From 1996 to 2013, Leach was with the Red Wings, where the Detroit scouting staff found hidden gems in Tomas Tatar (second round), Gustav Nyquist (fourth round) and Justin Abdelkader (second round). All of whom have made a solid living in the NHL as very serviceable forwards and logged at least 739 NHL games played, with Nyquist and Tatar still playing today. 

After 17 years of supplying the Red Wings with Stanley Cup-caliber players and star-studded talent, Leach left Detroit and continued his amateur scouting career in Dallas, where he brought his exceptional eye for hidden talent. Leach was part of a Stars scouting group that drafted Roope Hintz (second round), Jason Robertson (second round), Jake Oettinger (first round) and Miro Heiskanen (first round). Leach's impact on Detroit brought Stanley Cups to The Motor City, and although Dallas hasn't won a Cup yet, all of those Stars draft picks have been the heartbeat of their organization's consecutive long playoff runs. 

Now, after nearly two and a half decades, that experience and insight have paid off for Leach. A year ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Leach would be taking over as the director of amateur scouting from Wes Clark, who had led Toronto's scouting department since 2021.

Like Leach, Clark found some hidden talent of his own, such as Easton Cowan (first round), Fraser Minten (second round) and Matthew Knies (second round). It's difficult to compare the scouting resumes of Clark and Leach when considering the sample size and the fact that they didn't serve the same roles, but Clark's track record of finding talent has proven itself. Especially with Knies, who, at 22 years old, has already become one of the NHL's best power forwards and an integral part of the Maple Leafs. A player who fits the exact bill Leach has searched for in drafts.

"We looked at players who had a heavy compete, heavy work ethic and had skill,"Leach said to The Athletic's Joshua Kloke about what traits the Stars looked for on draft boards. 

That quote from Leach is probably what secured the opportunity to lead Toronto's scouting department because "heavy" and "compete" are Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving's M.O.s. Don't be surprised if the Leafs end up selecting some heavy bodies in the coming days of the NHL Draft because, from the general manager, head coach and now the head scout, their desired traits seem to align with each other.

Leach enters a very depleted Maple Leafs prospect pool, as the team has traded away their picks for assets to help them win now. At the same time, the Leafs have the second-most picks (six) in a draft since 2020. Like other contending teams, Toronto doesn't have a first-round pick in this year's draft, making their first selection coming on day two, but don't let that lone second-rounder fool you. Just look at who Leach was able to sift out in the second round during his time in Dallas: Hintz and especially Robertson, who’s had a 109-point season. 

Of Toronto's six picks, they have sixth and seventh-round selections for Leach's back pocket, and you can bet he feels confident about getting value out of those.