You’d be hard-pressed to find a cooler story on the Toronto Maple Leafs than Bobby McMann right now. The Maple Leafs originally brought him into the organization following the 2019-20 season, where he initially suited up for the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder as a 24-year-old. Fast forward to 2024-25, and the now-28-year-old just recorded his first 20-goal season in the NHL. For McMann to pull this off as an undrafted player is impressive enough on its own, but the fact that he did it in his mid-20s marks a career path that’s about as unique as it can get.

McMann has 20 goals and 13 points for 33 points in 63 games this season, and he’s recently found a home on the Leafs’ second line with John Tavares and William Nylander — the unit combined for 10 points in last night’s 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, with McMann providing one goal and one assist.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Nylander commented on his respect for McMann taking the road less travelled.

“Yeah, he’s had an unbelievable path,” Nylander said. “Just stuck with it, just battled every night, and it seems to be paying off. He’s been playing great for us since he got called up here.”

John Tavares, who, along with Nylander, tallied two goals and two assists in Tuesday night’s win over Philadelphia, echoed his teammate’s sentiments about what McMann has been able to do with his tenure in the Leafs organization.

“We’re thrilled for Bobby [McMann] and what he’s become for us as a player,” Tavares said. “His impact not just on the scoresheet is obviously phenomenal, great accomplishment by him.”

Tavares went on to discuss the value of having a success story play out like that in the NHL and what it could mean for aspiring hockey players in similar situations.

“He can be counted on in so many different situations and make an impact for us, and his journey is a great one for a lot of young kids to learn from.” Tavares continued.

McMann was asked in the postgame scrum if there’s anything that he’s proud of, having worked on in his journey to the NHL that he’s seeing come to fruition. The easy answer would have been his goal-scoring ability, but he singled out his mental game as a key part of how he’s developed so quickly as a player.

“Yeah, I think my decision-making as far as when to carry the puck and when to try and dump the puck and get it back, I think that’s a skill that’s sometimes overlooked,” McMann said. “There’s guys that I’ve watched previously trying to break into the league who do that really well. Trying to make good reads on how to forecheck and get pucks back, when you play with good players, if you can get the puck on your team’s stick in the offensive zone, you’ll have a lot of success.”

One thing is for sure, McMann is making Craig Berube look like a genius for putting him with Tavares and Nylander. The Maple Leafs’ bench boss said that he thinks the line as a whole has gotten faster since McMann joined them.

“I think since putting Bobby on there, it just adds so much strength and speed to the line,” Berube said. “He’s a big, strong guy who can skate, seems like he’s always on the puck. Creates some battles for those guys, they get the puck and they can make plays. Johnny can score. So, they’ve been effective for us since we put them together. I’ve been happy with them.”

The Leafs will look to stay in the win column and pick up some revenge from the week of the trade deadline when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.