Datsyuk, Zetterberg among those drafted by new Leafs head of scouting Mark Leach
New Maple Leafs director of amateur scouting Mark Leach has had his fingerprints on some amazing draft picks, including Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.
Long before landing in Dallas in 2014, Leach had been a part of a dynasty with the Detroit Red Winfs from 1994-2013, winning 4 Stanley Cups during his run with the team before joining the Stars.
Now, aside from his obvious exploits in Dallas, having had a hand in drafting Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, Thomas Harley, Jake Oettinger, Wyatt Johnston, Miro Heiskanen and Logan Stankoven, Leach also had a hand in drafting the likes of Datsyuk and Zetterberg in Detroit, but the list doesn't stop there.
Earlier this week, SDPN's Steve Dangle ran through a list of names connected to Leach from his time in Detroit. The list includes names such as Tomas Holmstrom, Jiri Fischer, Nicklas Kronwall, Valterri Filppula, Jimmy Howard, Johan Franzen, Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Tomas Tatar, Nick Jensen, Riley Sheahan, Calle Jarnkrok, Petr Mrazek, Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Matthias Janmark.
Each of the Red Wings players listed above has played at least 300 NHL games, with most being well above that mark. Obviously, as Dangle pointed out, we have no way of knowing which guys Leach really pushed for, but even if half of them aren't Leach's guys, just being at those tables and having those discussions is valuable experience. He now brings that experience to Toronto.
Obviously, we won't know what sort of an impact Leach will have for a few years yet, and next summer's draft will be an ultra challenging one with the Maple Leafs not having many draft picks in 2025. Still, Leach's track record of getting quality NHL players outside of the first round speaks for itself.
Source: NHL.com
Maple Leafs Hire Mark Leach as Director of Amateur Scouting
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 20 | 420 ANSWERS Datsyuk, Zetterberg among those drafted by new Leafs head of scouting Mark Leach Are you excited about the Leafs hiring Mark Leach after seeing some of these names he's connected to? | ||
| Yes | 362 | 86.2 % |
| No | 58 | 13.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
