Toronto Maple Leafs 2021 NHL Entry Draft Update

Since Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Kyle Dubas took over in May of 2018, the Leafs have done quite well at the draft table.

The years were Dale Hunter was running the Toronto Maple Leafs draft table were pathetic, yielding almost nothing outside of the high-end slam-dunks.

Dubas not only had to contend with a near-empty cupboard when he took over, but the team’s competitive status ensured he’d only have mid-to-low first round picks at his disposal.

Although only having first round picks in 2018 and 2020, Dubas has been able to find gems in later rounds. This year, more than many others, seems to be the year where this fact is finally starting to reveal itself to the hockey world. Despite only having drafted one regular in the Leafs lineup, the early returns are great from just about every draft.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may lack big-name prospects at this point, so their system isn’t known to be great, but draft experts like Byron Bader are very high on their prospects compared to other teams.  Time will tell, but the Leafs, under Dubas, appear to be excellent at drafting.

Toronto Maple Leafs on the Right Track

Rasmus Sandin, who Dubas drafted in 2018 after trading back from the 25th spot to the 29th spot and picking up an extra third round pick along the way, has been nothing short of fantastic. At only 21 years of age, he’s blossomed quite well, putting up some gaudy underlying numbers. So far, he doesn’t seem to be alone in the Leafs system but only time will tell.

Fast forward to the 2021 NHL draft, after moving their first and fourth round picks at the trade deadline, the Leafs were left with only three total draft picks, all on day two. Even though I held out hope until the very end that they’d make a move to add one or two additional picks, they didn’t. The Leafs doubled-down on their disastrous deadline moves and only selected three players; Matthew Knies, Ty Voit, and Vyacheslav Peksa.

Despite my disappointment, Leafs brass seems to be well on their way to proving themselves right, once again. The results for the three players selected have been nothing short of spectacular, even the most optimistic Leafs fan wouldn’t have predicted all three to be playing so well.

Matthew Knies

LW

6’3 205lbs

University of Minnesota (NCAA)

Matthew Knies was selected in the second round, 57th overall at the 2021 NHL draft. The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers’ Freshman has impressed so well, that he was selected to represent the USA at the upcoming 2022 Olympics. He was one of only 13 NCAA prospects to have made the cut – Including another Leafs prospect Nick Abruzzese.

So far, in 21 games played this season, Knies has scored 8 goals and added 13 assists for 21 points. This is good for second on the Gophers and eighth in U-20 scoring for the entire NCAA. Pretty good considering he is sandwiched between two top five picks in Luke Hughes and Jake Sanderson on the list.

On top of his impressive play and Olympic selection, Knies was also selected to the USA World Junior squad last month, registering one goal in the lone American game before the tournament was cancelled. Hopefully he’s able to keep a similar scoring pace when he goes to the Olympics next month.

It will be interesting to see what the Toronto Maple Leafs plan to do with Knies. It’s likely he goes back to the NCAA for one more year next year but it wouldn’t be surprising if he signs an entry-level contract after this year and turns pro for the 2022-23 campaign. Even though he’ll likely still play in the AHL if he does, it would be nice to see the Leafs development staff get their hands on him. However, if he does go back for another year of NCAA hockey, Knies would undoubtedly be an early favourite for a potential Hobey Baker award nomination.

Vyacheslav Peksa

Goaltender

6’2 163 lbs

Irbis Kazan (MHL)

By far the strangest pick at the draft table was goaltender Vyacheslav Peksa, who the Leafs selected in the sixth round, 185th overall. This was partially due to middling results on the MHL’s Irbis Kazan, the KHL junior squad for the Ak Bars Kazan where he was the back-up for Leafs prospect Artur Akhtyamov some games. (stats up to date as of January 15, and from  hockeyreferece.com).

After posting a .909% save percentage in 17 games last season, Peksa has vastly improved. This season, in 43 games he has posted a .934% save percentage, good for seventh in the entire league. He’s also played in 13 more games than the next closest goalie in the top 10. In fact, if you adjust for goalies who’ve played 20 or more games, Peksa moves all the way up to 3rd in the entire MHL.

On his own team, the skill and games played discrepancy is even greater. He holds the best save percentage by a wide margin, being the only goalie above a .890% and is the only goalie to have played more than four games.

It will be interesting to see if his play and games played is sustainable, but given he is holding pretty steady with a .920% save percentage over his last five games and a .931% over his last 10, I expect him to be fine. He’ll be an interesting prospect to keep an eye on in the coming years.

As I mentioned before he still sits behind fellow Leafs prospect Artur Akhtyamov and is an entire year younger, thus will likely come over after Akhytamov and is likely a few years away at best.