The Toronto Maple Leafs have selected forward Brody Pepoy with the 169th pick of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Pepoy, 18, plays for the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and stands at 6-foot-2 and 181 pounds, primarily playing right wing. He recorded 16 goals and 29 points in 67 games and displayed strong forechecking ability in his one and only season with the Spirit. Like many other Canadian junior hockey players, Pepoy is committed to the NCAA for 2027-28, set to play for Lindenwood University in Missouri.

Pepoy has been touted as a relentless hard-worker who combines speed and physicality to make him a tough out if you’re an opponent. While the offensive numbers don’t exactly jump off of the screen at you, the goal-scoring rate is encouraging and having just turned 18 a month ago, he has lots of time to round out his offensive skills, and once that happens, his work ethic will support it and make him that much harder to play against.

He has an underrated finishing ability and carved his spot on the Spirit’s roster after going undrafted in the OHL and walking onto the team from a training camp invite. He got better with more ice time as the season went on, and with one more season to work on those parts of his game before setting off for the NCAA, he’s got lots of time to improve his game and see his name rise in the prospect rankings. The Maple Leafs won’t need his services anytime soon, so if things go well with his development, he does have an NHL ceiling. What that ceiling is depends on how much of a step forward he takes in the next couple of years, but it’s open-ended right now.

Pepoy is the second OHL player the Maple Leafs have drafted this weekend, following the second-round selection of Alexander Bilecki at 60th overall. He’s also the third winger, after first overall pick Gavin McKenna and third-round pick Zach Olsen.

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