Why Do the Toronto Maple Leafs Still Have a 1st Round Pick?

Historically, the 25th overall pick is a terrible selection, so why haven’t the Toronto Maple Leafs traded it yet?

Over the past few years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have drafted pretty well, which is probably why they’re still holding the selection.

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Timothy Liljegren, Nick Robertson and Rasmus Sandin are just a few names that have been or are turning into legitimate NHL players and all six of them were drafted in different positions.

Matthews (1st overall) and Marner (4th overall) are the best of the bunch and were selected in the top-five, while Nylander (8th overall) is right behind him. From there, you could argue that Liljegren (17th overall) is valued higher than Sandin (29th overall), while Robertson (53rd overall) is just getting his feet wet in professional hockey and has high-potential.

Do you see a theme here?

The higher you get selected, the more likely it is that you’re going to become an impact player in the NHL and unless you’re a top-10 overall pick, and more than likely a top-five selection, the odds of you becoming an everyday player is thin.

Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Trade the 25th Overall Pick

This isn’t the first time the Leafs have selected with the 25th overall pick. In fact, it was 11 years ago that they picked Stuart Piercy 25th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

How’d that one turn out?

Since that pick, there have been two players who have turned into NHLer’s.

Jack Roslovic (2015 NHL Draft) and David Pastrnak (2014 NHL Draft) are the only two players who have become every day players with the 25th overall pick and Pasternak is the only player who’s truly a difference-maker.

It took Roslovic roughly five years to make a real impact in the NHL, while Pastrnak showed promise right away, but really didn’t become the player he is today until the 2016-17 season, so two years later.

Although you can find someone like Pastrnak with the 25th overall pick, it’ll take a minimum of two years after this draft before they turn into that special player. So, if everything goes well, we’re looking at this 25th overall selection to crack the 2024-25 opening night roster.

Who’s even going to be on that team?

Matthews and Nylander are UFA’s by then, so they could be gone. Meanwhile, the only players currently linked to a contract for that season are Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.

Although this 25th overall selection could turn into a good player, it’s more than likely going to be a bust and/or it’s going to take between 2-4 years to do anything.  Trading it could help now.

That timeline is way too long for the Leafs and although rookie contracts are incredibly valuable because their price-tag is so low, Toronto is best suited flipping the pick and getting an everyday NHLer, or trading down and acquiring more assets to at least better their chances in the future.

Either way, the 25th overall isn’t anything special and Toronto should look to trade out of it immediately.