Toronto Maple Leafs Have 3 Former 1st Overall Picks on Their Roster

The Toronto Maple Leafs now have three top picks on their roster.

After the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Joe Thornton to a one year contract, it gave the team three players that were selected first overall, to go along with Auston Matthews and John Tavares.

Thornton was selected first overall back in 1997 and 12 years later, John Tavares was taken with the first pick as well. Fast forward another five years later, Auston Matthews was taken with the first overall pick.

Now, they are all playing in the blue and white for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Path Leading to Toronto

Joe Thornton was drafted first overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1997 draft. Leading up to the draft, he played in the OHL for the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds where he tallied 122 points. In the 1997 draft, the Leafs didn’t have a pick in the first round as it was owned by the New York Islanders in a previous trade. That pick ended up being fourth overall which was used to select Roberto Luongo. In fact, the Leafs didn’t take anyone until the third round. (All stats hockeydb.com).

He spent eight seasons with the Bruins until he was traded to the San Jose Sharks in the 2005-06 season. From there, he spent a total of 15 seasons with the Sharks until signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs just recently. In his career, he’s appeared in 1,636 games with 420 goals and 1,089 assists.

Tavares was drafted first overall by the Islanders in 2009. Prior to the draft, he was granted exceptional player status to play in the OHL a year earlier than he was allowed to. In his last season in the OHL, he scored 72 goals. In the 2009 draft, the Leafs selected Nazem Kadri seventh overall.

Tavares spent nine seasons with the Islanders before signing with the Leafs in free agency. In his career, he’s scored 345 goals and assisted on 424 goals for 769 points in 814 games. He has five years left on his contract with the Leafs.

Of all the three, Matthews is the homegrown talent as he’s developed with the Leafs. He was selected first overall in the 2016 draft.

In his career, he’s played in 282 games and has tallied 285 points (158 goals, 127 assists). He signed a contract extension during the season last year and has four years left before he hits free agency.

Matthews will be on the first line, Tavares on the second and Thornton on the fourth. As they aren’t going to play on the same line as they’re all centers, it would be pretty cool if they did.

If the Leafs want to set the record even further and make it four first round picks on their roster, Ilya Kovalchuk is a free agent and so is Nail Yakupov who is playing overseas in Russia.