Toronto Maple Leafs 2025 NHL Draft primer: Everything you need to know

On the other hand, they selected Nick Robertson with the 53rd-overall pick in 2019 and Fraser Minten with the 38th pick in 2022. Robertson has been extremely inconsistent in his two full seasons with the Leafs, when he isn’t a healthy scratch, and Minten only got 19 games worth of run with the NHL club in two seasons with the Leafs before being dealt to Boston at the 2025 trade deadline.

In the third round, the Leafs have had two standout picks in recent history. The first is currently one half of the team’s solid netminding tandem, Joseph Woll, who was selected 62nd in 2016. The second standout third-rounder, Carter Vergaeghe, never actually played a game for the Leafs as the team traded him to the New York Islanders in 2015, but the now three-time Cup-champion forward was selected with the 82nd-overall pick by Toronto in 2013.

The dart throws

The fifth, sixth and seventh rounds have not borne much fine fruit for the Leafs at all in recent memory, but if we had to point out a couple of players they’ve picked in that range, they would have to be Pontus Holmberg and Pierre Engvall. Holmberg was selected with the 156th pick in the sixth round in 2018, and last season, he primarily played on the Leafs’ third and fourth lines in limited minutes. Engvall, picked with the 188th pick in the seventh round in 2014, no longer plays for the Leafs, but is currently entering the third year of a $3M per year deal with the Islanders.

Possible Leafs picks in 2025

With no first-round picks, the Leafs won’t be selecting a Matthew Schaefer or a Michael Misa, but they will still have some quality prospects to choose from in the draft. We will be focusing on Toronto’s second and third-round picks, but that isn’t to say they won’t find a diamond later on in the draft.

Peyton Kettles

The Leafs will have the final pick of the round, No. 64, in the second round of the 2025 draft. If players get selected where they’re projected, the Leafs could pick the 6’5″ right-shot defenceman in Peyton Kettles. The Winnipeg-born blueliner doesn’t have the flashiest stats with just five goals and 14 points with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos last season, but at just 17 years old, Kettles has a lot of room to grow.

Alexei Medvedev

If the team wanted to go the netminder route instead, they could choose to go with London Knights goaltender Alexei Medvedev. Medvedev had a great regular season with London in 2024–25, posting a .912 save percentage and a 2.79 goals-against average, and although London opted for the veteran Austin Elliott in the playoffs and the Memorial Cup, Medvedev is just 17 years old, with lot’s of room to improve–much like Kettles.

Potential sliders

But say certain prospects slip down the draft order, the Leafs could have the chance to pick guys like Czech centre Adam Benak or Canadian goalie Jack Ivankovic. Benak, while undersized at 5-foot-7, is an excellent forward option, as shown through his performance at last year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where the 18-year-old put up four goals and 11 points in just five games. His solid but not amazing 2024–25 USHL season caused his draft stock to fall a bit, but if the Leafs can snag him with the 64th-overall selection, it would be a major win.

Likewise, it would be a major win to select Ivankovic. While the team is currently set in net, the 18-year-old could be the Leafs’ potential goalie of the future. Ivankovic had a solid season with the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads, an impressive World Junior Championship performance and also led Canada to a gold medal at the most recent Hlinka Gretzky Cup. In that Hlinka Gretzky, Ivankovic had an absurd .967 SV% and a 0.75 GAA in four games.

Third round and beyond

In the third round, the Leafs have the 86th pick, and there are a couple of guys they could go with here. The first is Quinn Beauchesne, who had a solid defensive season with the OHL’s Guelph Storm, putting up 18 assists and 24 points in 49 games. Additionally, the 18-year-old D-man represented Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Another option in the third round for the Leafs would be centre Owen Griffin. Griffin, like Beauchesne, is just 18 years old. The Markham, Ont. native had an impressive season with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, putting up 22 goals and 51 points in 62 games, and he was absolutely electric in the playoffs, contributing 16 goals and 29 points in 21 games during Oshawa’s run to the OHL final where they ultimately came up short against the eventual Memorial Cup champion London Knights.

With players like these in mind, the Leafs will have no shortage of talented prospects to choose from despite not having a pick in the opening round. Now we will just have to see who the other 31 teams select, and who GM Brad Treliving and company ultimately choose.