The Toronto Maple Leafs’ scouting department will have its work cut out for them at the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft.

While the team is slated to make six picks at the festivities being held in Los Angeles, all of them fall outside of the first round. Toronto is slated to make its first pick at No. 64 overall. Unless the Leafs plan on making a trade to move up from their current first selection, there is a good chance that the vast majority of their selections this year will be projects that will need time to develop.

This would normally not be a major point of contention with a team that is looking to win now, though the Leafs could use an influx of younger players joining the NHL ranks soon. One way to mitigate this is to look into overage prospects who are a bit further along in their development and are thus closer to some of the other players taken past the first round. Luckily for them, there are quite a few intriguing prospects available later this month that fall into the overage category and here are five of them.

Epperson was the most productive player on this list this past season, where he amassed 80 points (27 goals and 53 assists) in 58 games with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. What makes him an intriguing prospect is his high-motor, as he is constantly moving looking to make something happen in the offensive zone while having high awareness defensively to pressure the opposition. The University of Denver commit does have a major flaw in that his skating mechanics are unorthodox, so his explosiveness is limited. Getting that part of his game fine-tuned would go a long way to take his game to new heights.

Dell’Elce was passed over in the last few drafts, but should be able to finally get his name called after the solid freshman season he had at UMass. He is great in transition, moves the puck well, has a solid shot, and is always engaged at both ends of the rink. His defensive game is currently a bit raw, but he took strides in playing more direct while thriving under the pressure of the opposition. The King City native is a competitive person who is getting stronger, and that should make him enticing for a team like the Leafs to take a chance on.

There would be some familiarity on the Leafs’ end with Rautiainen as he took part in their development camp in the summer of 2023. And he was able to turn some heads with a solid showing at the 2025 World Juniors where he was among Finland’s more productive players with four points in seven games. While not a play driver, he has high offensive IQ and speed to burn to chase down players and be a nuisance to regain possession. He is not quite a physical player at this current juncture and will need to continue to fine-tune his defensive game, but there is enough to like offensively that makes him an intriguing player for the Leafs to target later in the draft.

It took a few years for Cerrato to get a groove in, but he took strides in his development during his freshman season at Penn State. He finished second on the team in scoring behind only Aiden Fink, a Nashville Predators prospect, with 42 points (15 goals and 27 assists) in 38 games. While his offensive potential is not quite dynamic, he has a strong two-way game that will be further developed during his sophomore campaign as he is expected to get more responsibility. Cerrato’s defensive game has always been his strong suit, but the fact that his offensive game is improving and could be translatable to the pros makes him worth considering for the Leafs.

The Leafs don’t necessarily need another goalie in their system as they are loaded with talent, but there is no such thing as having too many netminders. Rimpinen was outstanding at the World Juniors and helped guide Finland to a silver medal with a .933 SV%. It was not just limited to players in his age range as he was one of the top goalies in Liiga last season, which is impressive given he is only 18 years old. He may be small at 6’0″ and weighing 176 pounds, but his athleticism and reflexes more than make up for it and Rimpinen would be a smart bet to take a flyer on with one of the Leafs’ later picks.