Mark Hunter gives thoughts on some of the new Leafs picks

Mark Hunter, who is the Director of Player Personnel for the Toronto Maple Leafs, spoke to the media today about the players that his team acquired in rounds 2 through 7. We have the video of the scrum after the jump, along with a few of the answers that were player specific in text form.

“I’ve seen him in the world juniors, I’m sure you’ve seen him too, he’s a big strong guy. Good Skills. [Lokomotiv Assistant Coach] Evgeny Namestnikov, who scouts for the Leafs he coached him all year. He’s the one who pushed Soshnikov. To me, it was a no-brainer, but we’ll see. He’s gotta get better, of course, get stronger, but we think he’s got a good upside.”

“He’s going to play in the KHL. He played in the KHL this year, there are no issues there. We’ll let him develop. It’s a good league, so it’s just a matter of when he’s ready. Hopefully, when he comes over here he’s ready to step in our lineup. “

“To me, he’s like a [Brendan] Gallagher. He’s spunky, plays a hard two-way game. He’s tough. One game I went to see him, the first time I got there in Nothern Sweden, first shift he gets kicked out. Hits a guy from behind. I’m like “oh darn, that’s not great, to drive all this way…” anyway, he’s a gritty player, a smart player, I think he’s a Komarov kind of player”

“[Goaltending Consultant] Brian Daccord, who has been doing some scouting for us on the goaltending side really loved this goalie, and we really believe he’s on an upward swing. He’s big, 6’3, he’s going to a good program to play in Boston and we like him. We think he’s Athletic, and he’s very strong mentally.”

“I like the Brooks boy, we really believe in his skill and his talent, and we just watched what we see, we think he can still develop more, and has still got more upside. In this business of scouting, there are different times where people get better and we think some of these kids are going to get better at a certain time. That’s how we look at it.”

“Brooks, we’ll have to wait and see at our camp, and see how he looks, how he feels, and hopefully, he gets a little bit stronger. He’s somebody we’ll give an opportunity to play, but if it’s better for his development to go back to the Western Hockey League, we’ll do what’s best for him.”

“He brought it every night. He’s a very competitive player. Very intelligent. He’s somebody who willed his team into winning hockey games. Their team went to seven games against red deer and he was one of the main reasons. They had a younger team, and he was one of the older guys that led the way.”

“He defends very well, he’s a big strong kid, one of the tougher kids in the draft. He’s got to make quicker puck decisions, if he can do that he’s got good upside on his will.”

“Jack Walker is very fast and can shoot. We really believe his speed is exceptional and he was playing D for the other two years before that. For a year and a half now, he’s been at forward so we really believe there’s more upswing with his offensive ability.”

“He got hidden in the Memorial Cup behind a good team. Knew him, drafted him, so I feel good about this upside. He’s a big strong kid who needs a little bit of time of course, and he’ll get ice time next year to show how good he is.”

“He’s a big strong kid, our scouts liked him, our European Guys and Tommy wanted him so we stepped up and took him. He’s at KHL camp right now, so it’s a young man we think has good upside.”d