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Toronto Maple Leafs: Top 10 Draft Picks Of All-Time (2018)

By Michael Joubran

RALEIGH, NC - JANUARY 24: Tomas Kaberle #15 of the Toronto Maple Leafs fires a shot on goal during an NHL ge Carolina Hurricanes ame against t on January 24, 2011 at RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - JANUARY 24: Tomas Kaberle #15 of the Toronto Maple Leafs fires a shot on goal during an NHL ge Carolina Hurricanes ame against t on January 24, 2011 at RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 9: Al Iafrate #33 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Vancouver Canucks during NHL game action on January 9, 1989 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto defeated Vancouver 3-0. (Photo by Graig Abel/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 9: Al Iafrate #33 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the Vancouver Canucks during NHL game action on January 9, 1989 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto defeated Vancouver 3-0. (Photo by Graig Abel/Getty Images) /

#10 Al Iafrate

If you have a slap shot as hard as Al Iafrate did then you deserve to be on this list. Iafrate is most famous for shooting a puck so hard that is went through the boards, not the glass, the boards. Honestly, he is a player that the Leafs could use now, a big bodied, hard-hitting, slap shot taking defenseman.

Drafted fourth overall in the 1984 draft, Toronto clearly saw what Iafrate brought to the table and were more than happy to have him join their team. He played a very strong two-way game, one of the best in his era. While being able to produce offensively (mostly because of his slap shot), he was also a very hard player to play against in his end. He was not the fastest guy on the ice, but his positioning was almost always perfect. He would push players to the corner of force them to shoot the puck from the top of the circle.

Over his span with the Leafs, Iafrate played in 472 games, scored  81 goals, had 169 assists, resulting in a point total of 250. For all the reasons mentioned above, I have Iafrate number ten on my list.

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