Connect with us

Detroit Red Wings

New Maple Leafs Scouting Chief Has Red Wings Roots

Published

6 months ago

on

Wyatt Johnston, dallas stars
New Maple Leafs Director of Scouting Mark Leach was part of a Dallas Stars scouting team that drafted several top players, including Wyatt Johnston (shown)

The Detroit Red Wings knew the organization was suffering a significant loss when Jim Nill took the job as general manager of the Dallas Stars in 2013.

What they didn’t anticipate is Nill, known to have an eye for talent, would take two of Detroit’s top scouts. Veteran scouts Joe McDonnell and Mark Leach joined the Dallas staff. McDonnell was named director of amateur scouting. The net result has been that the Stars have become one of the NHL’s top drafting teams. The Stars’ picks over the last decade have included Miro Heiskanen (No. 3 in 2017), Jake Oettinger (26th in 2017), Jason Robertson (39th in 2017), Wyatt Johnston (23rd in 2021) and Logan Stankoven (47th in 2021) among others.

The Stars have consistently added impact players, regardless of where they are picking in the first and second round of the NHL draft.  They’ve only picked among the top 10 picks once over the past decade.

Meanwhile, the Red Wings were often criticized for poor drafting decisions in Ken Holland’s last few years as general manager. Detroit’s drafting record has been much improved since Steve Yzerman took over as GM.

A reminder of how significant the loss of Nill, McDonnell and Leach was to Detroit was brought home Thursday. Leach left Dallas to become the scouting director for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s replacing Wes Clark, who jumped to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he rejoins former Toronto GM Kyle Dubas.

Leach had scouted for Detroit for 19 years before going to Dallas with Nill. That means he will bring 30 years of scouting experience to the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs’ decision to hire Leach has played to strong reviews around the NHL. He is well-respected.

Related Topics: