Toronto Maple Leafs: Re-Drafting the Wilderness Years 2010-2015

So we are currently three games into the 2021-2022 NHL season and the Toronto Maple Leafs already have roster issues.

With Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Petr Mrazek’s health status up in the air after leaving Thursday night’s contest against the Senators with a groin injury, the team’s depth is diminishing quicker than the NHL can make up new rules.

Forwards Auston Matthews and Ilya Mikheyev are already out of the lineup with injuries, and centre Adam Brooks was claimed by Montreal off of waivers last Sunday. Top prospect Nick Robertson still needs seasoning in the minors and 2020 1st-rounder Rodion Amirov is suiting up in the KHL again this year. Needless to say, the Leafs would certainly benefit from some help internally.

Which leads me to the point of this article: the draft. Sure, some of the big top-ten names (Rielly, Matthews, Marner, Nylander) over the years have been able to make quick, significant contributions but other than these select few names the Leafs draft has been a dark void that has failed to deliver any real spoils.  The Leafs haven’t developed a star player drafted after the first round since Tomas Kaberle in the late 90s. 

The Leafs drafting from 2010-2015 features some remarkable misfires and an alarming dearth of quality NHL bodies.

Here is a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs drafts from 2010-2015 and at some of the different players they could have selected with all of those picks: