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3 Reasons Why Toronto Maple Leafs Don’t Need Their First-Round Pick

By Stephen Nixon

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 27: William Nylander is selected eighth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 27: William Nylander is selected eighth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JUNE 27: William Nylander is selected eighth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at the Wells Fargo Center on June 27, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Toronto Maple Leafs did not win the NHL Draft Lottery and are now without a first-round pick this year.

After losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying series, there was a glimmer of hope for Toronto Maple Leafs fans.

And his name was Alexis Lafreniere.

The projected first-overall draft pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft is very skillful with an NHL comparable to Florida Panthers superstar Jonathan Huberdeau.

After Gary Bettman confirmed every ping-pong ball (that was so weird), eight fan-bases held their breath with hopes of Lafreniere.

Any Leafs fan that said they actually didn’t care if they won the Draft Lottery was lying to themselves because you know Leafs Nation would have gone nuts if their name was called.

With all of the ping-pong balls floating around, the Leafs unfortunately did not win, but instead the New York Rangers were victorious.

As the 11th seed in the qualifying series, there wasn’t a ton of controversy towards the Rangers winning the NHL Draft Lottery, compared to if the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers or Leafs won.

Either way, the fact that Toronto was unsuccessful with the NHL Draft Lottery now means that the team will be without a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Although it would have been great to draft 13th overall, here are three reasons why it doesn’t matter that the team has a first-round pick.

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