The Top 5 Worst Toronto Maple Leafs Draft Picks of All-Time
#1 Scott Thornton
San Jose Shark Joe Thornton’s first cousin and former teammate, Scott Thornton, had a long career as an NHL journeyman tough guy and right-winger, but one would expect much more from a number three overall pick than that.
Well, in this case, maybe not, when you realize that, in 1989, the team that picked him, the Toronto Maple Leafs, were nearing the end of their worst decade ever and team management was in shambles.
At the 1989 Draft, the Leafs used all of their three first round picks on Belleville Bulls players from the OHL.
This strange occurrence might be understandable if the Belleville Bulls were a junior hockey dynasty loaded with superstars, but this was not the case. The Bulls were a mediocre team at best, and like the Toronto Maple Leafs, won nothing during the entire decade of the 1980s.
Regardless, the buds drafted three Bulls in the first round-forwards Thornton and Pearson at numbers three and 12, and defenceman Steve Bancroft at number 26. None of these players had ever produced impressive numbers in junior save Pearson for just one season.
Did the 89’ Toronto Maple Leafs even have a scouting staff? Did the lone scout run out of gas on the 401 just outside Belleville? Why else would the Leafs choose three Belleville Bulls with their first three picks in the 89’ draft? Force of habit? It seems that something was rotten in the Province of Ontario….
The 1989 draft did feature a plethora of future NHL star power among its offerings, and this was the draft that saw future Toronto Maple Leafs legend Mat Sundin get picked at number one overall by the Quebec Nordiques.
By acquiring their three Bulls, the Leafs missed out on Stu Barnes, Bobby Holik, Bill Guerin, Olaz Kolzig, Adam Foote, Patrice Brisebois, Robert Reichel and most regrettably, Sergei Fedorov and Niklas Lidstrom, who, together (with a little help from Stevie Y), turned Detroit into “Hockey Town” with Stanley Cups galore, thereafter.
Additional Disappointing Picks: Landon Wilson, Luca Cereda, Justin Pogge, Steve Bancroft, Rob Pearson, Eric Fichaud.
Next. Who Would Have Thought?: Nylander Among Best in NHL. dark
As you can see, the Toronto Maple Leafs have made some terrible choices at the draft. Information for this article was taken from wikipedia, hockeydb.com and nhl.com.
Let us know if we missed anyone!