Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: Thoughts on the Draft
The 2018 NHL Entry Draft has ended and the Toronto Maple Leafs have made their picks.
Considering that these kids are roughly 4 years away from even sniffing the NHL, it’s tough to judge them too harshly at this moment. We’ve all seen shaky-looking picks flourish into superstars throughout their development countless times. Just look at Andreas Johnsson, former seventh-round pick. The guy was an afterthought in 2013 and is now a potential top-six forward in one of the league’s most potent offensive attacks.
It’s not an uncommon occurrence.
Still, this is a hockey website and therefore judgements must be made. This week, I tasked the EIL Staff with answering the question:
How do you feel about the Leafs’ performance in the draft?
Did you expect a trade? Different selections? Anything, really.
The answers may, in fact, shock you.
Carson Trask
With the Leafs picking as late as they did in the first round, its hard to get overly excited about their draft performance.
I’ve been advocating that now was the right time to use draft picks as capital in trades. The Leafs need help at centre and on D. Trading draft picks could have really helped with that.
The Leafs have also shown a tendency in recent drafts to select overage players. This strategy hasn’t worked out well. But, the trend continued this year. Sean Durzi, selected 52nd overall, went undrafted a year ago. As did fourth-round pick Mac Hollowell. Both players were invited to development camp last summer, where they clearly made an impression.
The Leafs stick to their board regardless of the players age. Let’s see if they have better luck with this year’s overage picks.
What I did like was Kyle Dubas trading down in the first round. Any time you have multiple players on the board that you like, it makes sense to sacrifice a few spots in order to get some more assets. I’m sure there was old school “hockey guys” who were saying Mark Hunter wouldn’t have traded down. But, it just made sense.
Overall my first thought was that the Leafs draft was just okay. Nothing to get overly excited about. We won’t know for a few years whether this draft was a success or not. Chances are, less than half these players will ever play for the Leafs.
One thing, however, is for certain. Dubas has a plan, and he is sticking to it.
D.J. Llewellyn
I’m happy with the Leafs 2018 draft. I find it hard not to be.
There weren’t any big moves for the team and that’s just fine, even if it might be a bit boring and safe. Dubas ended up getting a couple extra picks and more kicks at the can. That is often a good thing when it comes to drafting.
What I liked most is that it is clear that Dubas and the scouts have a clear vision of how they want the team to play and what players they’re looking for. Particularly on defence. The Rasmus Sandin pick exemplifies this perfectly. The kid has high hockey IQ and is a mobile player who can move the puck up the ice quickly. We got a good look at that with how the Marlies played during their Calder Cup run. And, the case remains the same here as it was when Dubas ran the Greyhounds.
Middle round pick Semyon Der-Arguchintsev was a great bet on potential. On the other hand, Reilly Stotts was a bit more of a safer pick, who didn’t put up great numbers in any season except the last half of his draft year.
Still, size will always come after smarts, skill and speed. We watched Brian Burke and others put a premium on size for years, only to have our team go nowhere. It appears those days are truly over. And I’m happy with that.
Sandin and Durzi were good, if safe, picks. As for the other players, time will tell.
Alex Hobson
Am I happy with the outcome of the 2018 NHL Draft? Absolutely.
It reminded me a lot of the 2015 draft. Lots of skill-based talent and tons of picks in general. Dubas traded down a few times back in 2015 and this weekend he traded down once. However, the main difference between the two drafts is that Dubas also focused on needs in 2018, whereas in 2015 it was simply about getting the BPA.
It makes sense that Dubas would put some focus into needs this time around. Back in 2015, the Leafs had next to no quality prospects and needed whatever they could get. This year, they’re completely loaded with quality prospects and pursued their needs while keeping the BPA notion in the back of their minds.
Take the Rasmus Sandin pick for example. If the prospects pan out the way they’re expected to, then Toronto’s three best left-handed defenceman in the future will be Morgan Rielly, Travis Dermott, and Sandin. While the Leafs definitely need right-handed D-men, it still fills the need.
They then took a right-handed defenseman in Sean Durzi with their second-round pick. Then took two centres in the third round in Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Riley Stotts. Defence and centre are two of the most sacred positions in hockey. And, ironically enough, it’s where the Leafs lack the most prospect depth.
Sure, you’ve got Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri on the team right now. But, who do you have waiting in the pipelines? Frederik Gauthier will likely cap out as a fourth line guy. Adam Brooks is a total wildcard. Aside from those guys, I can’t think of anybody else.
Overall, it was a successful draft. And yes, I’m happy with the way things went.
Josh Tessler
All-in-all, I would give the Toronto Maple Leafs an A- draft grade.
Kyle Dubas did an excellent job drafting solid defensive and centre prospects from across the CHL. In addition, he was able to trade down in the first round to select the same defenseman he was otherwise already going to select with the 25th pick. Plus, he received a third-round pick from the St. Louis Blues in addition to the 29th overall pick.
Not too bad.
I really like Rasmus Sandin. His value jumped up after an incredibly strong season with Dubas’ former club, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. As speculated, Dubas loves the Greyhounds and Sandin wasn’t the only Greyhound to catch his eye. He ended up grabbing Sandin’s teammate, Mac Hollowell in the fourth round.
While Dubas hold a solid draft, I wasn’t in love with some of his late round selections. His first seventh-round selection, goaltender Zachary Bouthillier, had an awful second season in the QMJHL last season. He played in 38 games with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and had an ugly 3.42 GAA. In addition, he had a save percentage under the .900 mark., Yes there weren’t a ton of options at that point. But, I would have looked elsewhere.
In addition, the Maple Leafs have a ton of goaltender depth in their farm system. So, they could have used the pick on another centre as they only took two in the draft.
James Tanner
I am somewhat satisfied with what the Leafs did at the draft.
I like that they traded down to get an extra pick. And, from what I’ve read about Rasmus Sandin, I like that pick too. I don’t really care too much about passing over guys who were ranked higher. Primarily because the team has a much more information on these players than you or I do.
With stats and Youtube levelling the playing field, hockey nerds can make evaluations about NHL players and confidently evaluate moves that an NHL team makes. That can’t be done with minor league players. So, I don’t concern myself too much with who they could or should have picked.
My only complaint is just from an excitement level standpoint.
I would have liked to see more trades. I feel there were needs the Leafs needed to address and trades could have been the avenue to do that. Aside from trading down, there were no such developments.
So, I like the Leafs draft. But, I’ll have to wait a few years to properly evaluate it. They did not improve their team for next year, however, and that is a slight disappointment. Only, from an entertainment perspective, they still have all summer to improve the team.
Next: Kyle Dubas, The Trade Down Guy
Thanks for reading!