The Toronto Maple Leafs have notoriously had pretty poor luck when it comes to draft picks.
Besides a few stars, it’s been underwhelming returns consistently and between that and poor asset management, it’s a mixed bags at the draft table for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Until recently, they haven’t had a large number of “homegrown talent” which has lead to them having a lack of real playoff success since well, 1967.
They could get away with it in the pre-cap world when team’s with larger pocket books could buy talent. Now, with ELC contracts becoming a very valuable commodity, teams rely on the draft more and more to fill out their roster.
Leading up to the draft, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the more notable busts in Leafs history. (stats from hockeyreference.com and wikipedia.com).
5. Egor Korshkov
Although Korshkov’s career isn’t complete, the 31st overall selection in 2016 hasn’t played an NHL game in two seasons.
Drafted as a double over-ager, the pick was puzzling at the time and has not aged well since. In 2015-16, Korshkov played in 41 games in the KHL with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, scoring a single goal and two assists for three points.
Not terrible production from a teenager in the KHL, who was used sparingly, it still left a lot to be desired. The main reason many theorized for his draft choice was that he lead the Russian Junior Team in scoring en route to a Silver medal at the World Juniors that year.
Over the next three seasons with Yaroslavl, Korshkov faced some major ups and downs, from roster decisions to breaking his leg. In that span, he managed to play in 107 games scoring 17 goals and 33 assists for 50 points. This lead to him signing a two-year entry level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the 2019-20 season. In his first pro season in North America, he played 44 games with the Toronto Marlies, scoring 16 goals and nine assists for 25 points. He was even called for one game with the Maple Leafs where he scored a goal but was quickly sent back down.
After the Covid-19 pandemic caused delays to the NHL and AHL seasons, Korshkov went back to the KHL in 2020-21 where has has played the past two seasons. Since going back, he has 28 goals and assists for 56 points in 103 games. He has also seen his NHL rights traded twice from the Maple Leafs to the Carolina Hurricanes, and then to the Florida Panthers where he remains unsigned. It’s always possible the soon-to-be 26 year old comes back over to revive his NHL career but it’s unlikely.
Now, we’ll take a look at some of the players Korshkov was picked ahead of. Most of these players were ranked higher than him by public rankings in 2016, so it really stings to see some of these names. Like: Jordan Kyrou, Alex DeBrincat, Samuel Girard, Carter Hart, and Filip Hronek.