Top 10 Toronto Maple Leafs Draft Misses: 2000s Edition
The Toronto Maple Leafs are never going to draft perfectly and there are many of examples of this throughout the 2000s.
This is the third of a four-part Toronto Maple Leafs draft misses series and today we’ll be talking about the 2000s.
After looking back the Leafs draft history this decade, the team actually drafted pretty well.
Nazem Kadri, James Reimer, Leo Komarov, Nikolay Kulemin, Tuukka Rask, Anton Stralman, Alex Steen and Matthew Stajan are just a few of the names the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted that went onto to solid NHL careers.
The biggest name within that bunch is obviously Rask.
With their first round selection in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, the team went with the Finnish goaltender, despite having just drafted Justin Pogge a year prior.
Although the team didn’t have to make a decision so quickly, they decided to pick Pogge over Rask, trading him to Boston for another goaltender named Andrew Raycroft.
Rask would go onto to win a Vezina Trophy and is considered one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, while the Toronto Maple Leafs sat back and had mediocre goaltending until Freddie Andersen arrived.
Although the Leafs scouting department did an amazing job by drafting Rask, they also did a terrible job by selecting Pogge and picking him over Rask as their future number-one.
As much as a decision like that seemed small at the time, it ended up being one of the worst decisions in franchise history and still haunts them 14 years later.
To recap the criteria to be considered a draft “miss”, please read below:
- The player can only be a “miss” if another team selected that individual within five picks of the Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick.
Now let’s look at the top 10 draft misses of the 2000s.
#10. Alex Edler (2004 NHL Entry Draft, 3rd Round, 91st Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 3rd Round, 90th Overall (Justin Pogge)
The infamous Justin Pogge selection.
Although we know it isn’t now, two years after selecting Pogge, it did feel like he could have been the steal of the draft.
Pogge’s 2006 season was incredible. He won a Gold Medal with Team Canada and then was named the CHL Goaltender of the Year later that spring. All goaltenders take a little longer to develop so it seemed that in the next year or two, Pogge would be the starting goaltender for Toronto.
Obviously that didn’t happen and the Pogge selection turned into a bust. Therefore, the team missed out on one of the greatest Vancouver Canucks defenseman of all-time in Alex Edler.
Since jumping into the NHL, Edler has been incredibly consistent. As an offensive defenseman with a big slap shot from the point, Edler has 401 points in 873 games played. Not only that, but he was recently named to TSN’s All-Time Vancouver Canucks team.
#9. Patric Hornqvist (2005 NHL Entry Draft, 7th Round, 230th Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 7th Round, 228th Overall (Chad Rau)
There’s always a soft spot for Patric Hornqvist because he was the last selection in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
As the 230th overall pick in the draft, Hornqvist is ninth in career points from that 2005 class. Seventh round draft picks barely make the NHL, let alone play 770 career games and have 238 goals.
Although it took a few years in Europe and another year in the AHL after being drafted, once Hornqvist made it to the NHL, he never looked back. He scored 30 goals in his first NHL season and then rattled off seven consecutive 20-plus goal seasons, not including the shortened lock-out year in 2012-13.
Hornqvist took his story full circle from being last to first when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014. Although the team was led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Hornqvist was a key piece to the team’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
Every player should look at Hornqvist’s story and never doubt their ability. It doesn’t matter where you get drafted, only what you do with that opportunity.
#8. Ryan Ellis (2009 NHL Entry Draft, 1st Round, 11th Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 1st Round, 7th Overall (Nazem Kadri)
Nazem Kadri worked out pretty well for the Toronto Maple Leafs with their first round selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, but as we’ve seen over the last decade, they could always use more defensemen.
Ryan Ellis is a small defenseman by NHL standards, but what he lacks in height, he makes up for it in skill. The 5-foot-10, 180 pound defenseman has been a top-four player on Nashville’s blue-line for roughly the past decade.
Before arriving in the NHL, Ellis was one of the best junior hockey defenseman of our generation.
There wasn’t an award he didn’t win. Whether it was the CHL Player of the Year, World Junior Championship Gold Medal, World Junior Championship Best Defenseman or back-to-back CHL Memorial Cups, Ellis won everywhere he went in junior.
Despite being so skilled, many thought that his size wouldn’t transition well at the NHL-level. That hasn’t been the case at all, as Ellis has found himself in a great spot in Nashville and has continued to be a contributor offensively.
Although Kadri was a great Maple Leaf, Ellis would have been a nice compliment to Toronto’s blue-line instead.
#7. Niklas Kronwall (2000 NHL Entry Draft, 1st Round, 29th Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 1st Round, 24th Overall (Brad Boyes)
Toronto’s real draft pick here was Brad Boyes, and although he was selected by the Leafs in 2000, it took until 2015 for him to ever wear a Maple Leafs jersey.
Yes you read that right.
Before he would ever suit up for the Leafs, Boyes was traded to the San Jose Sharks in a deal that sent Owen Nolan to Toronto.
Although Boyes was a valuable draft piece in the acquisition of Nolan, in a ‘what-if’ world it would have been great to see Niklas Kronwall as a Leaf.
Kronwall is the type of defenseman that the Toronto Maple Leafs would kill for. They attempted to acquire someone like Kronwall by trading for Dion Phaneuf, but that didn’t work out. Kronwall can not only contribute offensively, but it’s his bone-crushing hits and defensive play that make him so valuable.
It’s no surprise that Detroit never wanted to see him leave, as he spent his entire career of 953 games with the Red Wings. Throughout his career he was not only a big part of the team’s 2008 Stanley Cup victory, but he was part of Team Sweden’s 2006 Gold Medal winning Olympic team.
#6. Mike Hoffman (2009 NHL Entry Draft, 5th Round, 130th Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 5th Round, 128th Overall (Eric Knodel)
Mike Hoffman is one of the most underrated scorers in the NHL and the Leafs let him slip away for nothing.
Instead of Hoffman, the team went with Eric Knodel, who would play zero games in the NHL. In 49 career AHL games spread throughout the last decade, Knodel has zero goals and 14 assists. Based on what Hoffman has been able to do with his career, this was a huge miss.
I guess the Leafs valued Knodel’s 6-foot-6, 225 pound frame over skill at the time, because looking back it’s crazy to see how far Hoffman fell.
Although he was passed over in his first year of NHL draft eligibility, Hoffman had 52 goals and 94 points with the Drummondville Voltigeurs in his second year of eligibility. He not only had a huge offensive year, but he helped his team win the QJMHL Championship to earn a berth in the CHL Memorial Cup.
With all of those attributes, you’d assume Hoffman would get a higher draft slot, but the Leafs clearly didn’t see him as a future NHLer as they passed up on him with their 128th overall pick.
Since becoming a full-time NHLer in 2014, Hoffman has six straight 20-plus goal seasons, including a 36-goal campaign in the 18-19 season. If it wasn’t for a shortened season this year, Hoffman would have had another 30-goal season.
#5. David Backes (2003 NHL Entry Draft, 2nd Round, 62nd Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 2nd Round, 57th Overall (John Doherty)
The beginning and potentially end to Backes’ career has been disappointing, but his prime was great.
With six seasons of 20-plus goals in an eight-year span, Backes was a reliable top-six forward who was always one of the top-scorers on the St. Louis Blues.
Although he’s only played in one NHL All-Star Game, he has 950 NHL games under his belt and 557 career points.
Another reason why this pick was such a big miss was because of who the Leafs selected instead of Backes. The team went with a 6-foot-4, 235 pound defenseman from the EJHL named John Doherty instead.
Doherty wouldn’t even sniff the NHL, as the closest he ever came was six games in the ECHL. Five years after being drafted, Doherty was out of hockey completely, whereas Backes is still an NHL player.
As a captain with St. Louis for five seasons, Backes’ leadership and skill-set would have been perfect in Toronto and it’s unfortunate the Toronto Maple Leafs passed on him.
#4. Cam Ward (2002 NHL Entry Draft, 1st Round, 25th Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 1st Round, 24th Overall (Alexander Steen)
Would Cam Ward have came in as a rookie and won a Stanley Cup with the Toronto Maple Leafs like he did with the Carolina Hurricanes? Probably not, but a man can dream.
The Leafs selection of Steen here was great value. In terms of players from that draft class, he has the sixth most career games played. Although the Leafs traded him far too early in his career, they made a great decision in drafting him.
Steen was a great selection, but Ward could have been more useful. Ward has 334 career NHL wins and over 700 career games played. He was one of the most consistent goaltenders in the NHL and would have been very beneficial to the Leafs in a time where they had no consistency in net.
The Leafs goaltenders during Ward’s prime of 2005-to-2015 were a joke. Whether it was Andrew Raycroft, Vesa Toskala, James Reimer or Jonathan Bernier, neither of these goaltenders could get the job done when it mattered.
Ward could have been the savior to Leafs goaltending problems for years, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case for Leafs’ fans.
#3. T.J. Oshie (2005 NHL Entry Draft, 1st Round, 25th Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 1st Round, 21st Overall (Tuukka Rask)
If we look back at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, the Leafs made the right selection with Rask, but in hindsight TJ Oshie would have been better.
If the Leafs never picked Rask, he would have made this list as one of the biggest misses in Leafs history. However, by drafting him and trading him before he made the NHL, that’s even more of a blunder than not drafting him at all.
Oshie on the other hand is a steady right-winger who can help out any team offensively. During his time with the St. Louis Blues, he was a fan-favourite averaging between 45-to-60 points each season. He always had potential for a break-out season, but that didn’t come until his opportunity with the Washington Capitals.
On a team hungry for a Stanley Cup, Oshie had a career high 33 goals in 2016-17, but made his mark during the 2017-18 playoffs. Right behind the top three European forwards of Evgeny Kuznestov, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, Oshie was fourth on the team in playoff scoring finishing with 21 points in 24 games.
Oshie was a key addition to helping Washington get over the hump and win their first ever Stanley Cup.
Over the last few seasons, Oshie has proved to be a consistent 20-goal scorer and someone who is a perfect second-line winger. If things went differently, Oshie and Phil Kessel could have made a great 1-2 punch at right-wing for the Leafs.
#2. Ben Bishop (2005 NHL Entry Draft, 3rd Round 85th Overall)
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 3rd Round, 82nd Overall (Phil Oreskovic)
Although it’s unlikely that the Leafs would have picked another goaltender in this draft after selecting Tuukka Rask earlier in the draft, this is all a ‘what-if’ scenario so let’s assume they should have.
With the Leafs real selection in this draft, they went with Phil Oreskovic. I don’t want to say anything bad about him because just look at his HockeyDB page. He is one scary dude and at 6-foot-four, 240 pounds, I don’t want to mess with him.
Let’s just say his career didn’t work out and move onto Ben Bishop.
Bishop is a world-class goaltender but is surprisingly on his sixth NHL team already. After being drafted in St. Louis, then moved to Ottawa, Bishop never saw an opportunity until his time with Tampa Bay.
Bishop was spectacular with the Lightning and helped guide his team to a Stanley Cup Final in the 2014-15 season. Although he was playing as a number-one goaltender, the team decided to move on from him and kept Andrei Vasilevskiy as their starting goalie instead.
It was definitely the right move, but Bishop has continued to be one of the best goaltenders in the NHL with his newest team, the Dallas Stars. In 2018-19, Bishop was named a finalist for the Vezina trophy for the third time in his career after posting a 2.09 GAA and a career best .934 SV%.
Bishop could have been a great alternative to the mediocrity of goaltenders that Toronto had in the 2010s, so it’s unfortunate the team missed out on him in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
#1. Justin Williams
Toronto’s Actual Pick: 1st Round, 24th Overall (Brad Boyes)
For a Leafs franchise that has been tormented by Game 7’s over the past decade, they could have used “Mr. Game 7” Justin Williams.
Williams was a great player in the regular season but it felt that he took it to a whole new level once the playoffs started. With a mindset like that, it’s no surprise that he has three Stanley Cup championships.
Not only does he have three rings, but he was awarded as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner during Los Angeles’ cup run in 2013-14. With 25 points in 26 playoff games, Williams was spectacular during that stretch and much deserving of that award.
With 1264 career NHL games played, Williams’ career is essentially finished having already retired once before returning for 20 games this year. Within that career, he has 320 goals and 797 points.
He never scored more than 67 points in a regular season, but his leadership was something that couldn’t be measured.
Next. 1990s Toronto Maple Leafs Draft Misses. dark
Although his career may not have been filled with as many trophies if he were drafted to Toronto, I’m sure the Cobourg, Ontario native would have provided many of memorable moments for Toronto Maple Leafs fans.