Toronto Maple Leafs 2014 NHL Entry Draft: Where Are They Now?

Coming off of another disappointing season, the Toronto Maple Leafs needed to impress in the 2014 offseason, starting with the draft.

The Toronto Maple Leafs sat with six selections in the 2014 draft, their first pick being eighth overall. With the pressure on, the Leafs needed to nail their selections, selecting big and mean players left the team treading water for several years and was clearly no longer a need in the evolving NHL.

Just over half a decade later, we take a look at these selections and their journey from prospect to pro.

This is my fifth instalment of six ‘Where Are They Now?” draft posts, so I’d encourage you to check out my previous four posts in this series if you haven’t already!

• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010

The Leafs had the chance to select top-flight, skill first prospects like William Nylander, Nikolai Ehlers, Dylan Larkin, and David Pastrnak at number eight, but prevailing thought was that the Leafs were leaning towards status quo power forwards like Nick Ritchie.

So, it was a big shock when Dave Nonis stepped up to the mic and selected forward William Nylander from Sweden.

Nylander spent most of his draft year with MODO Hockey of the SHL, scoring  seven points in 22 games. Following his selection, Nylander would split the 2014-15 season between MODO and the Toronto Marlies, scoring 20 points in 21 SHL games and 32 points in 37 AHL games.

Most of his explosive production is due to his excellent, new-world skill set, as highlighted by Elite Prospects,

“[Nylander] is a highly skilled [offensive player]. [He] skates very well, has impressive hands and is excellent at handling the puck at high speeds. Hockey sense is very impressive and he likes to shoot the puck a lot, but is also capable of delivering perfect passes. A very agile player that protects the puck well and skates hard in the offensive zone…Has the tools to lead his team in all offensive aspects.”

Nylander would split the 2015-16 season between the first-place Marlies and last-place Maple Leafs, scoring 45 points in 38 AHL games and 13 points in 22 NHL games.

Nylander would make the NHL full time in 2016-17, and has appeared in 217 NHL games since then, scoring 149 points. Nylander is also top 10 over the last three years in many valuable (in my opinion) base-level stats. Willy has registered the sixth best CorsiFor % (57.4), fifth best points (149), eighth most games played (217), third most takeaways (155, just 109 give aways) and 10th highest PDO (101.8).

Nylander is criminally under appreciated by Leafs fans, which is mostly due to a long and arduous contract holdout in 2018 that left many God-fearing boomers baffled and angry. However, regardless of whatever your Uncle Chuck from Stayner might think, William “Greedlander” is an excellent player.

Round 3 Pick 68 – Rinat Valiev

In a crucial draft that would hopefully be really important to an intimate rebuild, Leafs management decided to take a big-bodied defender with underwhelming stats. Players such as Brayden Point (NHL star), Ilya Sorokin (top goaltending prospect), Elvis Merzlikens (top goaltending prospect), and Lucas Wallmark (full time NHL player) were are available at this point.

Ignoring the other options, Valiev still isn’t exactly a player you target, especially at this point in the draft. The Russian defender was an overager who went undrafted in 2013, and standing at a large 6’2″ and 216 lbs was not exactly a very mobile player. Valiev was known more for his shutdown ability (another red flag-do not base a draft pick, especially an overager, on shutdown ability, the player should have a variety of good skills-shutdown is a buzz word for “big and can hit”).

Valiev would join the Marlies in 2015 after two decent seasons in the WHL (74 points in 107 games), posting a solid 23 points in 60 games, and even played a 10 game stint with the Leafs, where he would score no points.

Valiev would spend the next year and a half with the Marlies, scoring 28 points in 87 games.

The Russian defender would be traded at the 2018 trade deadline, along with Kerby Rychel and a second round pick (Jacob Olofsson), to the Montreal Canadiens for longtime Habs centreman Tomas Plekanec.

Valiev would go scoreless in two games with Montreal that season. Since then, he would play in 62 AHL games, scoring 24 points. Valiev was traded again in 2018, this time to the Calgary, where he is set to start the 2019-20 season.

Round 4 Pick 103 – J. J. Piccinich

With their 4th round selection, the Leafs would target playmaking winger J.J Piccinich from the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL.

Following his selection, Piccinich would commit to Boston University of the NCAA, scoring just four points in 24 games en route to winning the 2015 NCAA Hockey East championship.

The next season, Piccinich would join the London Knights of the OHL. The New Jersey native would spend two seasons with London, scoring 138 points in 132 games, winning the 2016 Memorial Cup in the process.

Piccinich would then join the Leafs’ AHL affiliate Orlando Solar Bears in 2017, scoring 43 points in 69 games.

This past season, Piccinich would play in the AHL for the first time in his career, tallying an assist in six games with the Marlies. He would spend the majority of the season with the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL, scoring 31 points in 62 games and winning the Kelly Cup.

Piccinich, 23, is set to start next season with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL.

Round 5 Pick 128 – Dakota Joshua

With their fifth round pick, the Toronto Maple Leafs would select offensive winger Dakota Joshua from the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL.

After completing his third season with the Stampede in 2015, in which he scored 44 points in 55 games, Joshua would commit to Ohio State University.

Joshua would spend the next four seasons with Ohio, scoring 100 points in 128 NCAA games.

The Michigan native, who had decided not to sign with the Leafs, would have his rights traded to the St. Louis Blues this summer for future considerations.

Joshua is expected to play next season with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL.

Round 6 Pick 158 – Nolan Vesey

With the 158th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs would select offensive winger Nolan vessel from the USPHL.

Following his selection, Vesey would commit to the University of Maine.

Vesey would spend four seasons at Maine, scoring an underwhelming 82 points in 145 games.

Although a cult favourite in Maine, Vesey didn’t seem to impress in many aspects of the game. His overall mediocrity would contribute to the trade of his signing rights to the Edmonton Oilers in summer 2018.

Edmonton would sign the winger to a two year ELC and Vesey would join the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL, scoring 10 points in 32 points. Vesey would also appear in 17 games with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL, tallying three assists.

Vesey is set to play the 2019-20 season with the Condors.