The Toronto Maple Leafs dealt Kasperi Kapanen back to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a six player deal involving Pittsburgh’s 15th overall pick in this years draft, earlier this week.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins completed a trade late Tuesday morning which saw the Maple Leafs send them speedy winger Kasperi Kapanen along with two Toronto Marlies for quite the haul back.
In the return Toronto received RFA Evan Rodrigues, AHLer David Warsofsky, prospect Filip Hallander, and the Penguins 15th pick in the 2020 draft.
Question is what are the Toronto Maple Leafs really going to do with that draft pick, especially with Kyle Dubas in charge makes me think something is going to go down. Should they keep it, or should they package it in a trade?
Pittsburgh’s 15th Overall Pick
So this 15th overall pick that the Toronto Maple Leafs received in the Kapanen trade is pretty valuable if you ask me, especially in this years draft where it is being projected to be one of the deepest drafts since the 2015 class.
Still, the Leafs could easily use this pick to trade it for players who can help them now.
Even if the Toronto Maple Leafs decide to keep the pick and draft at the 15th spot, there will be a lot of players available that will be great additions in the future. Whether they draft a forward or a defensemen this draft is deep and every team that has a first round pick will almost be guaranteed a great prospect.
At the 15th spot they could potentially draft a player like Dawson Mercer, Braden Schneider, Jack Quinn, etc. (Mock draft from TSN.ca)
What Could They Flip the Pick for?
If Kyle Dubas and staff go the route of flipping the pick in a package for a defensemen, what kind of defensemen would they go after and what defensemen would even be available?
Well for starters Kyle Dubas stated in his press conference after the trade that “if there was another Jake Muzzin, we’d certainly be interested” so there’s a starting point, Dubas and staff understand what kind of defensemen they need on the blue line and its definitely a responsible two-way defensemen.
Dubas, talking about what type of defenseman the Leafs will be looking for: "if there was another Jake Muzzin, we'd certainly be interested."
— Justin Cuthbert (@jccuthbert) August 25, 2020
Now I’m going to list some defensemen that maybe could be available if teams are interested in that 15th overall pick along with a roster player from Toronto being involved like an Andreas Johnsson or Travis Dermott.
Colton Parayko, Brett Pesce, Josh Manson, Connor Murphy
Those are some very good defensemen that would be great additions on the Toronto Maple Leafs, however i’m not saying they are all going to be available.
All in all Toronto could get a very good defensemen in return for that first round pick as it holds a lot of value even though its in the middle of the first round. Along with adding a roster player or two they can definitely get someone very good in return, its just a matter of who at this point.
No matter which route they go, it promises to be a busy summer for the Leafs, as they are still wanting to upgrade their team.
What do you think the Toronto Maple Leafs should do with their 15th overall pick? Do you think they should keep it and draft someone or should they flip it instead in a package for a defensemen?