Seventh Round
All three players the Toronto Maple Leafs selected in the final round of the 2020 NHL Draft will develop their game in university either this season or next.
With the 189th pick, the Leafs took right-handed defenseman John Fusco after a strong 31-point season as the captain of Dexter Southfield in the US High School Prep League.
Fusco is already committed to Harvard University for the 2020/21 season and will continue his development in the NCAA when college hockey officially begins, with the Leafs able to keep a close eye on his progress over the next few years.
Six picks later and the Leafs selected 5-foot-11, 201lbs centreman Wyatt Schingoethe out of the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL.
Schingoethe is committed to the University of Denver but will not head there until the 2021/22 season and will likely continue playing in the USHL during the 2020/21 campaign after registering 17 goals and 38 total points in 47 regular-season games last time out.
With their final pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs went closer to home with the selection of Richmond Hill native Ryan Tverberg out of the Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the OJHL.
In 47 games last season, Tverberg registered 51 points (26 goals, 25 assists) and he will also be taking his talents to Havard University in the 2021/22 season, joining Fusco a year into his development by that point.
With Tverberg unable to play in the OHL due to his commitment to Harvard, it’s likely that the Canadian centreman sticks around in the OJHL and continues to put up big numbers before heading across the border to college.