The Toronto Maple Leafs have selected defenceman Alexander Bilecki with the 60th pick of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Bilecki, 18, is a 6-foot-2 blueliner from Mississauga who was a member of this year’s Memorial Cup champion Kitchener Rangers. He was one of their most important defencemen down the stretch and saw his role grow as the season went on, finishing the regular season with 29 points in 66 games.

While his regular season point totals won’t jump out on paper, it grew into a bigger part of his game during the Rangers’ OHL playoff run, finishing with 11 points in 18 games, nearly half his total points from the regular season in a quarter of the games. He also tallied three assists in four Memorial Cup games.

“Just playing my game and doing what it takes to help the team win,” Bilecki said during the Memorial Cup. “It’s always nice to contribute, especially on this big stage.”

Bilecki can be compared to current Maple Leafs defensive prospect Ben Danford in the sense that his breakout skills and puck-moving ability outshine the totals on paper from his junior season. They boast similar size, and while Bilecki’s defensive tools may require some work, he has the instincts for it and, as Ellis said, projects to be a bottom-pair defenceman if his game develops at the rate it’s expected to. He’s an extremely strong skater which will help his case as he works towards a job in the NHL.

Bilecki joins a prospect pool that currently boasts the likes of Danford as their best weapon from the back end, and will join Noah Chadwick on the left side of the depth chart. He will undoubtedly return to Kitchener for at least another year, as he continues to round out his game, but the Leafs made a worthwhile pick in Bilecki. With much of the Leafs’ defensive corps in their prime, he’s got lots of time to prepare himself for NHL hockey.