Top 10 Toronto Maple Leafs Busts of the Last 20 Years

#5. Matt Frattin

The Hockey’s Future description of Frattin would make any team excited and the Leafs were definitely hopeful of the player that he would become:

"“Frattin uses his excellent shot to back defenders off down the wing and shows good hands when opportunities arise in close. Due to a quick, hard release he often catches goalies off guard. He has a squatty build at 6`1 and 206 pounds. He is not afraid to do the dirty work in the corners, but is at his best when posted up in the slot. His added strength over his four NCAA years has strengthened his skating ability. He’s extremely dangerous off the rush and can find ways to jump into open-ice; a snipers trademark.”"

Drafted out of the AJHL in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the Leafs knew that Frattin would be attending the University of North Dakota and weren’t expecting him to make an impact soon.

However, after finishing his university career with 36 goals and 60 points in 44 games, while being a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, the Leafs were hoping they’d drafted a stud ready for the NHL.

Unfortunately that was not the case. Frattin struggled at the NHL-level, but also seemed too good for the AHL, so he found himself in a weird spot. He was a player that had enough skill to play hockey at a high level, but not quite good enough for a regular NHL spot.

Also, if he ended up scoring on that breakaway in Game 7 of the 2013 NHL Playoffs to seal the win for the Toronto Maple Leafs maybe he wouldn’t have made this list. However, that unfortunately didn’t happen so Frattin gets the nod as a player who never met expectations.