Sixth Round Pick by the Maple Leafs Now Projected to be an NHL Defenseman

It's no secret that the Toronto Maple Leafs don't exactly have the deepest of prospect pools. That's why hitting on draft picks outside of the first two rounds is so vitally important.

After trading away centre prospect Fraser Minten in the Brandon Carlo deal, the Leafs do still have Easton Cowan and Ben Danford in the system, which bodes well for the future, but there are very few projected NHLers behind them, which is a cause for concern.

Fortunately, the Leafs appear to have another prospect well on his way to becoming an NHLer, and it just so happens that he's a 6'4" blueliner who was selected 185th overall back in 2023.

Noah Chadwick may not be a household name just yet, but if everything goes according to plan for the Maple Leafs, we could soon see the Lethbridge Hurricanes captain in the National Hockey League.

Chadwick is enjoying another incredible productive season in the WHL, having scored a career-high 13 goals this year and racking up 52 points across 64 games.

Daily Faceoff's Steven Ellis believes that Chadwick, while not a top prospect by any stretch of the imagination, stands a decent chance of being an NHL defenseman, which is found money for the Maple Leafs in the 6th round.

Chadwick already checks a lot of boxes for Leafs GM Brad Treliving in that he is a big-bodied defenseman with leadership qualities and some offensive punch.

If he can continue to develop at the rate that he's going now, it's only a matter of time until we see him make his NHL debut -- though, admittedly, that's still a couple of years down the line as defensemen take longer to develop than forwards.