Mazden Leslie wants to play pro, but if not he’ll go to Bowling Green instead of coming back to the Giants as a 20-year-old
Vancouver Giants defenceman Mazden Leslie is poised to be one of the first players to leave junior eligibility on the table and take advantage of the NCAA opening up scholarship opportunities to WHLers starting next season.
Leslie, 19, says his main goal is to be playing pro next fall, but if he doesn’t land a contract he’ll suit up instead for Ohio’s Bowling Green State University Falcons rather than come back to the Giants as one of their three 20-year-olds. He announced his Bowling Green commitment on social media this week.
He’s Vancouver’s team captain. He was the second leading scorer (12-41-53) among defencemen in the WHL as of Wednesday morning, and Leslie joins Portland Winterhawks forward Diego Buttazzoni, 19 — who committed to UMass-Lowell for next year in January — among prominent non-graduating players to announce their NCAA intentions.
How many more will follow is anyone’s guess. This year’s crop of graduating 20-year-olds landing scholarships was a given. There could be a host of 18- and 19-year-olds waiting until the season is complete to announce they’re not coming back. Leslie could also be part of a small group departing, with the premise being that players in the WHL picked that league in the first place because they didn’t want to go the school route.
The goal posts haven’t just moved. They’re playing hide and seek on all of us, too, for the time being.
For what it’s worth, the Giants have 19 games remaining in this regular season, starting with a visit from Portland to the Langley Events Centre on Friday. Vancouver (24-19-6-0) sits sixth in the WHL Western Conference.
“The Giants have gotten me ready to move up a level, whether that’s pro or NCAA,” Leslie said via text message. “And my focus and commitment right now is still 100 per cent on the Giants and hopefully leading the team on a long playoff run.”
The majority of his teammates are eligible to return next season. Asked about how they responded to him saying that he’d be at Bowling Green next year if he didn’t go pro, Leslie replied: “I think all the guys are excited. I think everyone wants to move up in hockey and eventually end up in pro. So I think this is a step in that direction for sure.”
Pro’s a legit possibility for Leslie next season. The 6-foot-1, 202-pound right-shot rearguard was passed over in the last two NHL Drafts, but got free-agent tryouts from the Toronto Maple Leafs and then the Vegas Golden Knights afterward. The free-agent route seems his best bet right now, although he’s eligible to be drafted this year and NHL Central Scouting had him at No. 196 among North American skaters in its mid-term rankings for this summer’s selection process.
You can appreciate the logic of the Bowling Green option as a result. If Leslie puts up 75 points this season with the Giants and he can’t parlay that into a pro contract, what exactly would he have to do as 20-year-old with Vancouver to make an NHL team take notice? At Bowling Green, there’s the chance to show himself in a different light, to change the narrative.
The COVID-19 pandemic shut down minor hockey in 2020-21 and allowed Leslie to play in the abbreviated hub season with the Giants as a 15-year-old. He’s already in his fifth season with Vancouver, which is the usual max for a junior player.
On the flip side of all this, the Giants brass have talked about building around this age group featuring Leslie since they all first joined the team, and thought their squad would be at the top of its cycle when they were all wrapping their eligibility. Now they’re going to have to pivot.
“Obviously the best players are going to have leverage in the system,” Gurney said.
Bowling Green is coached by Dennis Williams, who’s the former bench boss of the Everett Silvertips. He’s close friends with former Giants coach Michael Dyck from their days on Hockey Canada staffs, so there’s an extra connection regarding Leslie.
And the Giants’ 20-year-old centre Connor Levis announced his commitment to Bowling Green for next year in December.
Giants 20-year-old winger Maxim Muranov committed to Niagara for next year in January.
The NCAA hadn’t made players from the WHL — as well as players from the OHL and QMJHL — eligible for scholarships previously because it viewed them as professionals due to the monthly stipend they receive for spending money. The NCAA has been loosening its regulations the past few years, such as with the transfer portal and Name Imagine Likeness (NIL) contracts.
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