Toronto Maple Leafs: Five Lessons I Learned from the Draft

The Toronto Maple Leafs have concluded the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Anybody else satisfied by what the Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished?

I don’t know how you can’t be when they did as good as a job as they did because I had low expectations for this draft and I’m overjoyed.

Really low expectations, folks.

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I mean, having Timothy Liljegren fall into their lap at number 17 overall is truly a gift from the hockey gods.

The puck takes all sorts of weird bounces and many haven’t gone the right way, but it appears it’s finally going the Leafs way.

What an awesome feeling.

Liljegren most likely won’t play for the Leafs in the 2017-18 season, but they still have a top four right-handed defenseman in the system.

Okay, projected top four pairing defenseman.

Enough said, let’s get right to it.

I’m going to list five lessons I learned from this year’s draft regarding the Leafs and life in general.

But mostly the Leafs.

And as a friendly reminder, none of the following are in any particular order as per most of my slideshows.

Just enjoy the ride.

Patience

Have you ever heard this line before when you want something really badly?

Just be patient, good things will happen.

Well, we’re all a little guilty of this one and that makes me one of the most guilty of them all because I really wanted the Leafs to trade that pick away.

I thought they could package it for the coveted defender they needed.

However, as the picks continued and there was still a surplus of defenders available by the time the Tampa Bay Lightning were up, I knew that patience was the name of the game.

And look what it brought us.

Now, I’d still be more than happy to see a trade, but at what cost?

That’s always the question.

Simplicity

Sometimes you just need to keep things simple.

Sure, Lou Lamoriello and the rest of the Leafs brass could have over panicked and traded the pick away to acquire a guy like Travis Hamonic.

However, they kept things simple by just riding the wave of the draft.

At some point, they had to be asking themselves if a guy like Callan Foote or Liljegren was still going to be available come their turn.

It’s a good thing they didn’t panic because look where it got them.

I guess you just have to keep it simple.

Trust

I’ve heard it a thousand times and a lot of those times from some of you.

In Brendan Shanahan we trust.

I know, I know, but I was even questioning what was going to happen.

In the future, I think I need to trust the organization a little better because they didn’t disappoint.

Just relate it to the last slide even.

Had they not kept things simple and panicked, they could’ve made a trade involving the pick (good or bad) and not been able to draft Liljegren.

But they trusted their plan and I think it worked out just fine.

And if I had seen Liljegren go at 17 to another team.

Phew, done deal.

I would’ve been a fan of the KHL.

Excitement

I’m not going to just include it because it would be weird, but I did film my reaction to the Leafs drafting Liljegren and it got a little out of hand.

Like a little too much out of hand.

I won’t lie, when they made the playoffs this past year, I went streaking in Virginia.

That happened.

In the end, I more so remembered how to have fun with hockey again last night.

You know?

Just enjoy it because it’s supposed to be exciting, it’s supposed to bring you out of your seat.

A wise old man once said, “Gordon, it’s just a game.”

Any guesses as to who said that?

Ya, I’ll just let you figure that one out.

…

Cough, Hans.

What a beauty.

Experience

You don’t just pull off what the Leafs did Friday night without having experience coupled with excellent teamwork.

All of those guys – Shanahan, Lamoriello, Mark Hunty, Kyle Dubas, Mike Babcock – are always on the same page.

Did you watch any of their interviews after the first round?

I didn’t include videos for all, but there are some of their quotes after drafting Liljegren in this article.

They all have experience in this kind of business and it pays off.

It also relates to the on-ice team.

Yes, you need young guys to really work with, but without the players that have experience at the NHL level, the team will fail.

Shameless plug warning.

Guys like Matt Martin.