You can go off the record with rival scouts in tiki bars on Fort Lauderdale Beach. You can go on the record with general managers on the draft floor. Either way, the stories about Mark Hunter are the same.

He is the hardest working scout in the business — the first to the rink during a tournament, and the last to leave. And no one knows hockey talent better.

Hunter, who is sharing the Toronto general manager’s job with Kyle Dubas on an interim basis, put his stamp on the team this weekend in Sunrise, Fla. He did not draft braun — the Leafs’ beat-’em-in-the-alley days are over — opting for the skill of London sharpshooter Mitch Marner, Erie defenceman Travis Dermott and USA-Under 18 playmaker Jeremy Bracco.

Some of his picks have flaws. Sweden’s Jesper Lindgren is small for a defenceman. Lethbridge’s Andrew Nielson was playing Double-

B hockey a few years ago. Sarnia’s Nikita Korostelev caved under the pressure of a draft year. But each of the Leafs’ nine picks have big, big upside.

Sherry Bassin, a legendary figure in hockey as owner, general manager and scout in his many days, recalls a conversation with Hunter — who co-owned the London Knights — when Bassin bought the Erie Otters.

“He said the game has changed,” Bassin said. “It’s a skill-oriented game now. And he was right.”

Mark Hunter, like his brother Dale, eked out a long NHL career as a tough forward. Seasons with fewer than 140 penalty minutes were seasons when he had a limited role at the beginning and end of his career.

When he coached the Sarnia Sting, and early in his tenure running the Knights, he looked for players like himself. But Hunter realized pretty quickly that headshots were an issue, that toughness could hurt you, that speed can help you, that hockey IQ is everything.

“He was exactly right,” said Bassin. “That is the way the game is played now. That tells you about his insight. He’s willing to learn. He’s willing to evolve.

“He works hard, committed, really loves the game with a passion, works hard. Pretty good combination.”

As the draft progressed Friday and Saturday, the Leafs kept trading down. Why? Sure, they wanted more picks. But the players they had listed high hadn’t been taken by others. Hunter had Bracco, an American forward, listed as the 22nd best prospect in the draft. And the Leafs had the 24th pick. But they traded for two lower picks and still managed to get Bracco at 61.

“We had guys we rated higher who were still available and they were probably available because they were undersized,” said team president Brendan Shanahan. “We’re not asking them to play in the NHL next year or the year after that. Some of them will grow, some of them won’t. Some of them will find a way. It’s skill that wins.”

Hunter, by his own account, probably took in more than 200 games last year in person. He remembers his eureka moment with London.

“We figured out the (OHL) was changing, getting rid of head shots,” Hunter said. “We needed skilled players. We switched then, and we went with skill. Those were our thoughts when we were drafting, and we didn’t change.”

The same changes that happened in the OHL have happened in the NHL, where players like London Knights graduate Patrick Kane, at five-foot-10, are excelling.

Interestingly, smaller players were still snubbed by most teams in this year’s draft. Kelowna’s Nick Merkely and Ottawa’s Travis Konecky, both five-foot-10, have top-20 skill. Konencny went 24th, Merkley 30th.

“Skilled players have a better chance to get things done on the ice,” Hunter said. “You get a big, strong guy, it’s hard to develop skill. Guys that do have skill, you can develop them physically. They can get stronger. That’s how I look at it.

“The Detroit Red Wings have been doing that for years. They can get stronger, but you can’t put hockey sense into a player.”

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Hunter seems to be a good fit for Toronto.

“He’s a worker, he’s a hockey man,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock, once Hunter’s roommate at an under-18 tournament. “I like hockey men. I like guys [that are] passionate about what they do. They come in every day and grind. They love it. They love talking about it, they can talk on the phone about it. They love players.

“He loves skill. He can’t help himself, he just loves skill. He’s going to make us better. Ideally, our debates will make each other better.”

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