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

Over the last 40 years (starting from the first NHL Entry Draft in 1979), the Toronto Maple Leafs have selected 377 players.

From those 377 players, I will be selecting 10 players who I believe are the best draft picks of all-time by the Toronto Maple Leafs. I am also going to be adding in a rule just to cut out some controversies. The players must have played for the Leafs for a significant amount of time. This means players like Tuukka Rask will not be on the list.

Also, because players like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are young and have only played for two years with the team, I will be making this list with potential included.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have so-so draft history.  Before Auston Matthews, they’d never picked #1 overall in a year where there was a ‘generational’ player available.  Throughout the eighties they blew pick after pick.  In the 90s, they made bad trades that prevented them from drafting multiple hall of famers.

And still, this list looks pretty good, all things considered.  On with the show:

#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.

#9 Nazem Kadri

Oh where do I begin? Nazem “the dream” Kadri is still one of my all-time favourites. The type of game that he provides is crucial to a contending team. Drafted seventh overall in the 2009 draft, Kadri was picked so high because of the offensive skill that he was able to provide to his team.

Once he entered the NHL full-time, Nazem relied on his skill too much and was hurt because of it. He would be scrutinized by the organization, but things changed once Brendan Shanahan became team president. Kadri was still a little bit of an issue but this regime was not going to give up on him.

Once he started to find his game, head coach Mike Babcock gave him a new role as a shutdown centre and he excelled at it. Posting 31 goals in back-to-back seasons, while playing against top competition has shown everybody just how good he actually is. With career totals of 145 goals, 168 assists for 313 points in 488 games, Nazem is really starting to take off in his career.

He may be 28 by the time the season starts, but I believe Kadri will continue to improve into one of the best centres in the game. Especially considering he will be on the third line this upcoming season.

#8 Gary Leeman

Drafted 24th overall in the 1982 draft, Gary Leeman had a very successful career. Despite that, he is best known for being apart of the package that was sent to the Calgary Flames for Doug Gilmour. And for that trade alone, Leeman is ranked eighth in this list.

I am just kidding, maybe, not really, regardless I will keep him here.

In all seriousness though, Gary was a very talented player while playing for the Leafs. He was not the biggest guy on the ice but he knew how to keep the puck away from his opponent. Leeman is also one of three Leafs who have hit the 50 goal mark in a season (Rick Vaive and Dave Andreychuk are the other two). On top of that, he is currently the only player who was drafted by the Leafs who reached 50 goals in a season.

That feat alone is remarkable in itself. In a team that is 101 years old, only one player that they have drafted was able to reach 50 goals. Think about that for a second. Now that is a reason for him to be number eight on this list.

#7 Morgan Rielly

Morgan Rielly was drafted fifth overall in the 2012 draft. After spending one more season with his juniors team, Rielly made the jump to the NHL at 19 years old. Over the last five seasons, he has been improving his defensive game while still being able to contribute offensively. This past season he recorded 52 points in 76 games. He currently has 171 points in 388 career games.

Reilly is a premier two-way defenseman in the NHL. I am not one who knows much about advanced statistics, nor do I really care about them, but one stat really shows how good he is. Last season, he was one of only three defenseman (the other two were Victor Hedman and Drew Doughty) who had 50+ points and a positive possession rating while playing against top competition.

Now, I am not saying that Rielly is the third best defenseman in the NHL, but what I am saying is that he is the seventh greatest player the Leafs have ever drafted.

#6 Vincent Damphousse

Vincent Damphousse should be higher up in this list, but before his career really took off he was traded. Out of the 1378 NHL games that he played in, Damphousse only played 394 of those games with the Leafs. That means, that he played almost another 1000 games for different teams.

Damphousse and Leeman were a dynamic duo for the Leafs during the 1989-1990 NHL season. Scoring 94 and 95 points respectively, they really helped each other take a big step in their careers. Then they were separated a season later, typical Leafs. Despite that, VD played in five seasons with the Leafs and was a key contributor in three of those seasons.

While he spent the prime of his career on a different team, Damphousse was still able to produce enough to make an impact on the Leafs. Also, he not only played a skillful game but also played a tough game. He would always be going hard for the puck, you do not get 1190 career penalty minutes for no reason.

With a total of 394 games, 118 goals, 211 assists and 329 points for the blue & white, Damphousse comes in at number six.

#5 William Nylander

William Nylander was drafted eighth overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Nylander’s pick marked the beginning of a new era for the Leafs. Instead of going for the bigger Nick Ritchie, they decided to go for a player known more for their skill than the size of their body.

By doing so, the Leafs started to show fans that they were changing the way they ran the team. While they still sucked, this was the beginning of the culture change in the organization.

Nylander has only played in two full seasons with the Leafs, but as I mentioned at the beginning I will be taking potential into account and he is full of potential. Known for his stick handling and being able to make space for himself, Nylander has made a dynamic duo with Matthews and has made himself a very valuable piece to the Leafs core.

Considering he has 48 goals, 87 assists and 135 points in 185 games, the sky is the limit for the 22-year-old. Nylander is a very special player and the Leafs are extremely lucky to have a player of his caliber on their team.

#3 Mitch Marner

I do not even know where to begin with Marner. He is just so good! He can skate, he can stick handle around anybody and his hockey sense is off the charts. He is a magician on the ice.

Drafted fourth overall in the 2015 draft, Marner proved many Leafs fans wrong who thought they should have drafted Noah Hanifin instead. Despite being called too small for the NHL, he has proved that he can not only play in the NHL, but that he can excel at that level.

With career totals of 41 goals, 81 assists for 130 points in 159 games, Marner is going to be a very special player. Add the fact that he was able to produce those totals while playing with Tyler Bozak as his centre and it is even more impressive. Now that the Leafs have John Tavares playing with him, I believe that Marner is capable of producing more than a point per game each season.

Borje Salming holds the career record for most assists by a Leaf with 620. Looking at Marner’s skill and potential I think he can easily pass those totals if he spends his career with Toronto. He is beyond talented and will be one of the best players the Toronto Maple Leafs have ever had.

#2 Tomas Kaberle

Nobody ever expected Tomas Kaberle to do what he did for Toronto. Drafted 204th overall in the 1996 draft, Kaberle was never expected to be anything special…but he was.

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Known for playing a strong two-way game, Kaberle was able to produce offensively for the Leafs, while being able to keep the puck out of his own net as well. He was the cornerstone to Toronto’s defense for 12 years.

He also showed that you do not need to be a physical player in order to be a good defenseman. With only 260  PIM in 984 career games, Kaberle played a very toned back game compared to a lot of other players. With that being said, that was what made him so effective. By not spending more time in the box, he was able to be out on the ice helping his team.

He did not need to play a rough game because he played smart, he knew how to position himself correctly to force players into the corner or to shoot from farther out. I do not like using +/- as a stat but he was a +17 over his entire career despite playing for some really bad Toronto teams.

With a total of 83 goals, 437 assists for 520 points in 878 games with the Leafs, Kaberle is second all-time in assists by a defenseman with the Leafs. Overall, he was a well-rounded player and he deserves to be second on this list.

#1 Auston Matthews

Believe me, I am aware that I am jumping the gun here, but Matthews is too good to not put him here. He is a franchise centreman, he has already broken not only team records, but NHL records as well. He is the first player in the modern NHL to score four goals in their first NHL game. He holds the record for most goals and points by a Leafs rookie.

In his first season he led the entire NHL in 5v5 goals, that is not an easy thing to do. Matthews is a strong skater, can keep the puck on his stick as if it was attached to a string and has one of the best shots in the NHL.

Drafted first overall in the 2016 draft, Toronto knew what they were getting from Matthews. He is a franchise player and their first since Mats Sundin. He has shown what he is capable of and he is only 20-years-old. I think a lot of people forget about how young he is because of how mature he is.

Matthews has 74 goals in 144 games. That is more than a goal every two games. For a regular player, that is very difficult, for a 20-year-old? That rarely happens. I truly believe that Matthews can be the greatest player to ever play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, he is that good.

Sundin holds the record for most goals by a Leaf with 420, if Matthews keeps up his pace, he could easily surpass that. Mark my words, Auston Matthews will be the greatest Leaf of all-time. It may be too early to say, but I believe it and I believe he deserves to be number one on this list.

Be sure to check out the following EIL Draft Coverage as well:

2017 Version of this List 

Brian Burke’s Draft History

Evaluating Every Pick the Leafs made this year

Every First Rounder of the 80s

First Rounders of the 90s

First Rounders of the 2000s

Every First Rounder of the 2010s

Thanks for reading!