In the year of McKenna, it’s easy to forget that the Maple Leafs have other potentially awesome prospects in this year’s draft class, like Alexander Bilecki, drafted 60th overall in Round 2. His drafting by the Maple Leafs was part of the Scott Laughton trade to the Kings, a conditional pick originally belonging to the Buffalo Sabres, contingent on the LA Kings making the 2026 playoffs.
Memorial Year
From Mississauga, Bilecki has been with the Kitchener Rangers for the last two seasons. Looking just at his playoff stats from those two seasons, Bilecki went from playing three playoff games to 18. Although the Rangers played significantly fewer playoff games in Bilecki’s first season with them, he went from a zero-point playoff season to an 11-point playoff run. To note: In 2025, the Rangers reached the Western Conference Finals in the OHL Playoffs before being swept by the London Knights.
The highest points for defencemen in the OHL Playoffs this season was Islanders’ drafted Kashawn Aitcheson with 27 points in 19 games. Bilecki was eighth in the league during the playoffs with 11 points in 18 games. Interestingly, he has only 8 penalty minutes compared to Aitcheson’s 15, and a +/- of 7 compared to Aitcheson’s 4.
The 18-year-old recorded 29 points in his regular season, one power-play goal, and seven power-play assists.
The Kitchener Rangers swept the OHL Championship Finals (and only lost two games in their other series). They swept the round-robin portion of the Memorial and won the Cup 6–2 against the Everett Silvertips.
Young defence
Often on the power play, Bilecki has described his style of play as modelled after Shea Theodore. A defenceman prioritizing his power-play effectiveness and overall offensive play sounds like the perfect prospect for a retooled Maple Leafs team in a couple of years. Similar to McKenna, he’s a deceptive player with a highlight reel full of great passes and assists.
Hometown Buds
Bilecki will have another season with the Rangers in the OHL. The 2027–28 season will hopefully see him on the Marlies. Whenever we do get to see Bilecki in action, I’ll be stoked to have a home-grown D-man on the ice. I’m hoping there’s a universe in which Bilecki, a result of trading Laughton to the Kings this spring, will eventually bring some youth to our defence. During the final Treliving years, we kept trading away youth for experience, and I’m hoping that part of Chayka’s vision is to incorporate our young players.
I’m a sucker for a hometown-boy story, and was excited by the buddy-buddy stories being pushed about him and McKenna at Development Camp this week, especially during their World Cup game outing. Nice to see some positive media about the buds.
