What to Expect From the Toronto Maple Leafs at the NHL Draft

The hype leading up to this year’s NHL Entry Draft is perhaps the lowest in years among Leafs Nation.

After dealing their first round pick out west in the Jake Muzzin trade, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to wait until the late second round to start their draft.

With the 53rd overall selection, it’s almost impossible to accurately predict what they may do.

Although, there are a few options and if the past is any indication, we may be able to paint a picture of what could go down.

Trades

By now, its well known the Kyle Dubas is a huge fan of trading down. Logically, this makes sense as the value of draft picks increase with volume, particularly in the later rounds. Given this year’s draft is regarded by many as a very deep one, Dubas may go this direction once more.

In fact, given the Leafs sit with seven relatively low picks this year, I would bet on at least one trade down.

This, I would argue, is most likely given the depth of the draft, as it results in wildly different rankings of players among teams. So, the Toronto Maple Leafs may find they have a shot at landing a good player even later in the day because of the disparity throughout the league.

They would then opt to acquire more picks at the low risk their target is taken.

Going the other way, there are a few teams with multiple first round picks who may be willing to part ways with one. The question, however, is the cost of these picks, and given the status of the teams (Los Angeles, Buffalo, Anaheim and Colorado) with them, they’ll probably want a decent piece for the long term, not just someone to tide them over.

In addition, it was reported on Thursday that the Leafs would be searching for a centre in return for the likes of Nazem Kadri, a player who would likely have to be shipped out to acquire a first.

So it seems as though Dubas and the front office aren’t set on picking up a drastically higher pick. Although it may be worth considering.

Other names floating around are the usual suspects; Patrick Marleau and Nikita Zaitsev.

Here, I would suggest that the Leafs could trade down and follow it up by adding the newly acquired picks to a package with one of the two players. This would make sense as the contracts that come with the players will likely require the Leafs to sweeten the deal.

That being said, the belief is that potential trading partners would seek a current roster player, so I don’t see this particular scenario unfolding.

The Pick

We all know the philosophy of drafting the “best player available” but this tends to fall apart with lower picks, intentional or not.

Teams are met with very similar talent levels later on and so they typically tend to sway in the direction of positional need or playing style.

So, with that we can definitively say that the Toronto Maple Leafs will draft 6’5 and 212lb left winger, Daniel Walker from the North Bay Battalion. The Ontario Hockey League’s leader in penalty minutes is a truculent power forward and will fit great with Brian Burke’s 2011 Leafs squad.

Waking up from that nightmare we once called life, I would suggest that the Leafs are likely to draft a centre. Given the pool of defensive talent within the organization, Dubas and his staff aren’t likely to go this direction, regardless of the back end’s current state.

In terms of young centres, the organization is somewhat lacking. Adam Brooks and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev headline the group but beyond that, pickings are pretty slim. On top of this, it seems as though William Nylander is likely to be on the wing for the long term.

Overall

All of that said, with the 53rd overall pick it’s essentially impossible to predict who the Leafs will pick.

(Note: Draft information courtesy of CapFriendly.com).

However, looking at previous years and how things are currently unfolding, we can get a pretty good idea of what may transpire.

So what do you think the Toronto Maple Leafs will do on the draft floor and who do you want them to pick?