Toronto Maple Leafs: How 2 Days Would Have Changed the Franchise

There are two very important days that passed in 1997 that have caused the current creation of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In a recent Twitter post by Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) he posted how the Toronto Maple Leafs would have been quite different had John Tavares signed with the San Jose Sharks instead.

A bigger impact on the franchise would have occurred if one Mrs. Emma Matthews had delivered a baby boy on September 15, 1997 rather than two days later.

As part of the NHL rules for entering the draft “To be eligible, players must be 18 years old by Sept. 15 and under 20 years old by Dec. 31 in the draft year”.  Meaning had Auston Matthews been born just 48 hours sooner, the leagues best scorer would have been part of the 2015 draft instead of 2016 and could have likely changed the whole blueprint of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

Had Matthews bumped up to the 2015 draft, he likely would have not been drafted first overall as that spot would have remained with Connor McDavid being selected to the Edmonton Oilers.  This is where things would have got very interesting, Matthews and Jack Eichel at that time in their careers would have been likely seen a split in predictions on who would go ahead of each other.  With the Arizona Coyotes sitting with the third pick, you know the league would have done nearly anything to help them land Matthews.

Toronto Maple Leafs: How 2 Days Would Have Changed the Franchise

Whether the Coyotes moved up to draft Matthews or Eichel still went to Buffalo first, the two Americans would have been the next draft picks and as such the Toronto Maple Leafs organization would have had a different alternate universe.

The Leafs sat with the fourth pick that season and they selected Mitch Marner, however there is a good chance the team would have selected Dylan Strome had he been available.  Strome was selected third overall that season by the Coyotes, however with Matthews bumping him out of Arizona the Maple Leafs would have likely taken the centerman.

In the season leading into the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Strome led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring after recording 129 points in 68 games.  Being a 6’3″ scoring center and the team without a dominant player up the middle since Mats Sundin, Strome would have been their guy.

Heading into the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Toronto would have remained with the first overall pick, but without Matthews to select, the team would have had to go with the consensus first overall pick in Finnish scoring winger Patrik Laine.

With Laine and Strome joining William Nylander as the main cornerstone pieces going forward, there is an unlikelihood that the Maple Leafs make the playoffs in 2017 and likely land a top five draft pick for the third straight season in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

It is hard to say what would have happened in the draft lottery that season, but instead of drafting Timothy Liljegren 17th overall, the Maple Leafs likely end up with one of Nico Hischier, Nolan Patrick, Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar or Elias Pettersson.

That franchise would likely have not been able to land John Tavares in free agency, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton would have never thought about Toronto.  Would have have Jason Spezza still thought about chasing a cup in Toronto and retiring a Maple Leaf.  Those are just a few of the bigger players that would not have come.

Had Auston Matthews been two days older, the Toronto Maple Leafs would still be waiting to see their first Hart Trophy winner, their first 50-goal player since Dave Andreychuk and first 100-point player since Doug Gilmour.  The franchise would have likely gone down a similar path that the Buffalo Sabres been drowning in over the last 20-years and we could be talking about a team still trying to make it to the playoffs.