Toronto Maple Leafs: Re-Drafting the 2012 NHL Entry Draft

The Toronto Maple Leafs of 2012 were a mess.

Back then, we just didn’t know it. The Toronto Maple Leafs, run by Brian Burke, were built around Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf, the infamous 2013 game against the Bruins hadn’t happened yet.

We were optimistic with dreams of Tyler Bozak as a first liner.

The Leafs hadn’t drafted high in a while.  Their last two picks had gone to the Bruins who used them to draft Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton, two guys well on their way to the Hall of Fame.

Phil Kessel will always be one of the best Toronto Maple Leafs of all-time, but it’s hard to look back on the Leafs of that era with any fondness.

Brian Burke and his regressive ways couldn’t have come at a worse time.  The NHL was on the verge of a statistical revolution which would forever change the way players were scouted, analyzed and drafted.

The Salary Cap was still fairly new, and the teams who were good at managing it were the successful ones.

Unfortunately for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans, Brian Burke and his bumbling assistant Dave Nonis were not interested in statistical analysis and had, at best, a passing knowledge of the salary cap.

It was a recipe for failure, and the Toronto Maple Leafs of today are only now recovering. Though, it must be said, that if not for Brian Burke and his absolute failure as Leafs general manager, the team wouldn’t have had the guts to bottom out and finally draft a real generational player to build the team around.

As for the 2012 draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs were extremely lucky to pick fifth and get Morgan Rielly, because a higher pick probably wouldn’t have worked out very well.

Let’s look at that draft in more detail.

2012 NHL Draft Re-Draft

#1 Edmonton Oilers

Actual: Nail Yakupov

Re-Draft: Andrei Vasilevskiy

The Oilers are the poster team for what could have been.  They drafted Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Nail Yakupov and Connor McDavid with four first overall picks.

Had they not made one of the worst trades of all-time with Taylor Hall, and had they not completely whiffed on Yakupov, they’d have been one of the NHL’s best teams ever assembled.

Imagine a team that not only had McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Hall and RNH, but was backed by the NHL’s best goalie?

Had the Oilers been even half-way competent, you might not have had to imagine it.  Then again, if they were competent, they likely wouldn’t have picked first four times.

Either way, the selection of Andrei Vasilevskiy, the consensus best goalie in the NHL today, is a no-brainer.

If you could actually predict what goalies would do, a goalie would pretty much always be the first overall pick.  Since you can’t predict them, they rarely are.

#2 Columbus Blue Jackets

Actual: Ryan Murray

Re-Draft: Connor Hellebuyck

The Blue Jackets selected Ryan Murray, and he’s actually really good.  He is just never healthy and has had injuries set his career back immensely.

A do over, however, would see the Jackets get a goalie.  This year, the Vezina Trophy is most likely going to go to Connor Hellebuyck, who is neck-and-neck with Vasilevskiy for being the NHL’s best goalie.

In fact, if the goalies didn’t already have their own  trophy, Hellebuyck for Hart would likely be a more common talking point.

The Jets star would see himself going to Columbus if the draft were done over with perfect hindsight.

2012 NHL Draft Re-Draft

#3. Montreal Canadiens

Actual: Alex Galchenyuk

Re-Draft: Teuvo Terravainen

Oh to have this pick back.  The Canadiens had so many options that could have set their team on the path to contention, but they opted for Galchenyuk.

Galchenyuk actually had a strong start to his career, and looked for a while like he’d be a star.  Then he fell out of favor and was traded to for Max Domi.  That trade looks great for Montreal in retrospect, as Galchenyuk has fought injury after injury, been traded twice more, and is barely hanging onto an NHL job at this point.

The next best player in this draft is also a goalie, but in 2012, with Price in his prime, that wouldn’t make sense for the Habs, so they take the best position player of the 2012 draft – Teuvo Terravainen.

With 76 points last season, and well on his way to matching it before this season was paused, Terravainen is an elite point producer who also happens to be among the NHL’s best defensive players.

Few players have an all-round game as good as Terravainen, and he’s one of the NHL’s most underrated players.  If he were on Montreal (or most teams) he’d be their best player.

#4  The Islanders

Actual: Griffin Reinhart

Re-Draft: Freddie Andersen

The Islanders blew this pick, but were lucky enough to dupe the Oilers for a couple picks before Reinhart flamed out.

Speaking of what could have been, the Islanders used the Oilers’ pick to select Mathew Barzel.  Imagine him out there with Draistaitl, Hall, RNH, McDavid and Vasilevkiy.

Oh well. Reinhart didn’t work out, and if the draft was done over, the Islanders would have Freddie Andersen, which is a coincidence because the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie was signed by Islanders current GM Lou Lamoriello.

In real life, Andersen didn’t get picked until the Ducks took him 87th overall, in the late third round.

Goalie!  You never know.  Andersen, it goes without saying, has turned into a franchise goalie, even if he had a rough year this season.

2012 NHL Draft Re-Draft

#5 Toronto Maple Leafs

Actual Pick: Morgan Rielly

Re-Draft: Morgan Rielly

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of only two teams on this list who end up with the same player they really drafted (the other is Pittsburgh).   Rielly was picked by Brian Burke, and it’s one of the few things he did right as the Leafs GM.

Rielly has become a superstar, a franchise defenseman, and one of the best blue-liners in the NHL.  He should probably have won the Norris Trophy last season when he was the first d-man in years to score 20 goals and 70 points.

Unfortunately, Rielly didn’t get his Norris.  He played much of this year through nagging injuries and wasn’t his best self, though still better than most other players.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were winning over 70% of the games they played with Rielly in the linup and Sheldon Keefe coaching.  His injury was almost insurmountable, and the Toronto Maple Leafs struggled without him.

#6 Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Actual Pick: Hampus Lindholm

Re-Draft: Colton Paryko

The Ducks landed a top pairing defneseman in Lindholm, and they trade up here for a slightly better one in Colton Paryko.

Paryko has a Stanley Cup, and is one of the NHL’s best all-round defenseman.  Of course, he never has to do the work of a true #1 because Alex Pietrangelo is also on his team, but regardless, there’s no question he’s a great player.

If he scored a bit more (and here maybe Pietrangelo’s presence hurts him) he’d be truly elite. Regardless, I’d be shocked if he never wins a Norris Trophy.

#7 Minnesota Wild

Actual Pick: Matt Dumba

Re-Draft Pick: Filip Forsberg

The Wild picked Dumba and it was a great pick.  Only the benefit of hindsight lets us criticize it at all, and that is only because Filip Forsberg is still on the board.

Forsberg burst into stardom with two straight 30 goals seasons at ages 21 and 22.  Only injuries have prevented him from doing it five straight times or scoring 40.

2012 NHL Draft Re-Draft

#8 Pittsburgh Penguins

Actual Pick: Derrick Pouliot

Re-Draft Pick: Jacob Trouba

The Penguins wanted a defenseman, but they blew this pick. Pouliut played over 200 NHL games, but never lived up to the top ten billing.

Touba, on the other hand is a top pairing defenseman currently patrolling the blue-line for the Rangers.  I think he’s a bit overpaid, but he’s a solid player, and one you’d be thrilled to get eight overall.

#9 Winnipeg Jets

Actual Pick: Jacob Trouba

Re-Draft Pick: Hampus Lindholm

If this is a downgrade, it’s only slight. Hampus Lindholm is a solid top pairing player, who is underrated because he plays in Anaheim and doesn’t score too much.

Along with Morgan Rielly, Glachenyuk and Tom Wilson, Lindholm is just one of four players who have played 500 games so far from this draft.

#10  Tampa Bay Lightning

Actual Pick: Slater Koekkoek

Re-Draft Pick:  Tomas Hertl

Look how good the Lightning are today and imagine where they’d be if they didn’t punt this pick. Koekkoek played with the Blackhawks this year, but he’s not exactly living up to his top ten selection.

On the other hand, Tomas Hertl is a legitimate star player.  Hertl broke out last year in a big way, scoring 35 goals and 74 points for the Sharks.  Originally picked 17th, Hertl now cracks the top ten.