In the big Leafs news, they hired a new Director of Amateur Scouting:

Maple Leafs Hire Mark Leach As Director of Amateur Scouting | Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has hired Mark Leach as the team’s Director of Amateur Scouting. Leach joins the Maple Leafs following 11 seasons with the Dallas Stars Amateur Scouting staff. In Dallas, Leach worked directly with the Stars’ Director of Amateur Scouting to oversee
Toronto Maple Leafs logo

Elite Prospects shows Leach has been an Amateur Scout since 1991, first with Detroit until 2013, and then with Dallas ever since. I was shocked to learn that his brother Stephen Leach was a scout with the Calgary Flames under Brad Treliving. Their brother Jay Leach has been a coach in the AHL, and assistant in the NHL and in the NCAA.

Mark Leach is American, 63, and played NCAA hockey in the 80s. He is also extremely highly thought of as a scout. The Sun reports that he would know Treliving from the Coyotes days, but they don't expand on how that would have come about, but there's close to 10 years between his college days and his first job in scouting. TSN and SN rewrote the press release from the Leafs.

Some other sites have noted that Dallas has drafted some good players, in case you hadn't noticed them.

In other hockey news:

IIHF - The Joy of Refereeing
British official who handled 2014 Olympic final reflects on career
IIHF International Ice Hockey Federation
How the NHL, Nashville Predators helped deliver men’s ice hockey to Tennessee State
The TSU Tigers men’s hockey team will take the ice in 2025-26 as a Division I program. Here’s the process and support system that’s getting it going.
The Tennessean, The Tennessean
Historic win for Jamaica in Ice Hockey Challenger Series
Jamaica’s team emerged victorious in the final match of the inaugural Ice Hockey Challenger Series in Toronto on Saturday evening.
CNW NetworkIan Burnett
Brandon Montour confirms he was close to signing with the Maple Leafs
Brandon Montour was almost a Toronto Maple Leaf. <div class=“bam-inli…
TheLeafsNationShane Seney

Close doing more heavy lifting here than Montour is in the photo. He definitely talked to the Leafs, though.

Next week, if it seems like the Leafs aren't about to sign anyone else young, I'll post the T25 eligibility list and we can talk about the 10 players who are leaving and the 10 new arrivals.

Two players signed yesterday, Harrison Brunicke with the Penguins – I think he was just drafted, and Adam Wilsby, a 23-year-old prospect of the Predators who looks like he's getting set for a full year in the AHL again.

Arbitration hearings start tomorrow, but the NHLPA has not yet released the schedule, which they usually do. Reporters seem to know the dates, though. There are very few potential cases this year, but settlements should trickle in starting today.

Maybe two more players will get deals today!

From The Branches