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Top 3 Draft Picks That Never Played for the Toronto Maple Leafs

By Luke Ryan

SECAUCUS, NEW JERSEY - JULY 23: The stage is set for the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft at the NHL Network studios on July 23, 2021 in Secaucus, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
SECAUCUS, NEW JERSEY - JULY 23: The stage is set for the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft at the NHL Network studios on July 23, 2021 in Secaucus, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Mar 26, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Florida Panthers left wing Shawn Thornton (22) in action against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. The Panthers beat the Maple Leafs 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 26, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Florida Panthers left wing Shawn Thornton (22) in action against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. The Panthers beat the Maple Leafs 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

#3. Shawn Thornton (190th overall, 1997 NHL Entry Draft)

Ranking third on this list is the Toronto Maple Leafs seventh-round (190th overall) pick from the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Shawn Thornton.

Now, this isn’t to say that the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t drafted more talented players that never played for the club but it’s hard to overlook the fact that Thornton played a role in two different teams’ Stanley Cup wins.

Looking at the fact he was a seventh-round pick, there was never any guarantees that Shawn Thornton would elevate above the minor leagues, but to his credit he absolutely did.

Shawn Thornton never played for the Leafs, finding himself traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2001-02 season for minor-leaguer Marty Wilford, before making his NHL debut with 13 games in Chicago the next season.

Unfortunately for him, it is one of his career regrets given he grew up in Oshawa cheering for the Maple Leafs, but that’s the sometimes cruel nature of the hockey business.

What stands out about Shawn Thornton during his NHL career is his remarkable longevity in the minors, spending the best part of 9 seasons in the AHL before finally making it stick with a 48-game stint for the Anaheim Ducks.

Call it luck or call it playing his role, but that first (and only) season as a member of the Anaheim Ducks eventuated in his first Stanley Cup.

Playing in an era that still iced enforcers on the fourth line, Shawn Thornton was the type of player that knew exactly his role on the team and got out there and got on with it, whether in the AHL or the NHL.

Following his season with the Ducks, he joined the Boston Bruins and that’s where he really made it stick as an NHL role player with 7 seasons for them, including a second Stanley Cup and a further trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

For a player that was weighing up his options after his time in Chicago, it was a considerable turnaround to his career and speaks volumes of his overriding desire to be a Stanley Cup winner.

To play his role in achieving that goal twice, he definitely deserves a mention as a bit of a ‘what might have been’ for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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