The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the midst of a playoff push, so we may not know much about their draft position for a while.
That doesn’t mean we can’t think about the draft for the Toronto Maple Leafs, though!
1) Mark Hunter does not like the QMJHL. Here’s the leagues he’s drafted from and the total players drafted:
Rightfully so, though, because the Q has failed to regularly produce quality players lately outside of the can’t miss prospects like Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin.
This year, outside of Nico Hischier, the QMJHL is no different. If we’re making predictions, you can predict with a lot of confidence that the Leafs will avoid the Q like the plague.
2) A player who has been slowly generating more attention and moving up the rankings is Shane Bowers – and he was almost a member of the Q. Bowers was drafted by Cape Breton and he refused to report, instead opting for the less chosen USHL route.
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He’s a gifted offensive player who may be worth a look mid-late in the first round if no defenders worth grabbing are left. That is, of course, if he approves of the Leafs and will show up. This is a scenario where the Leafs could trade down to get him and a second round asset.
3) With how weak this years draft class is, if Toronto can’t get a defender they may opt to trade out of the first round entirely. It’s hard to get mad at that with this class, but it’s always good to gamble with the coins you’ve been given. The Leafs can pick and choose with more freedom now that they have the best group of young forwards in the league.
4) It will be interesting to see if Hunter leans on older players again in this years draft like he did last year. So far we haven’t heard much on any Leafs picks from 2016 outside of Matthews and Grundstrom. In Toronto, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Leafs nation likes to promote it’s beauties to the point that it sickens other fanbases. Crickets aren’t always a good sign.
5) It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Leafs pick up another young goaltender in the draft. Garret Sparks and Antoine Bibeau most likely don’t have a future in Toronto. They’re both RFA’s after this year and don’t really deserve another look. Joseph Woll and a 2017 drafted goalie could replace those two in the pipeline easily.
6) Going back to trading out of the first round, maybe that’s going to be part of how the Leafs get a top four defender. We’ll have to see how the draft order shakes out to really start to speculate as to which team could be a target, but it’s another option the Leafs have if they don’t like the players available on draft day.
7) This is likely the last draft that may produce a core drafted player for the best contending years of this group of Leafs. When you are a regular playoff team it’s harder to find elite players in the draft because of where you select. Toronto is looking at filler’s after this season with a glimmer of hope that they become more than that. The core you see is the core you should get used to.