Looking Back at the Toronto Maple Leafs 2018 NHL Entry Draft

Toronto Maple Leafs : Round 1, 29th Overall – Rasmus Sandin

Headed into the draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs still had their first round selection which was 25th overall.

Rather than making the selection, Dubas decided to do something he has become notorious for and that was trading down in the draft to gain extra draft picks.

The pick was traded to the St. Louis Blues for the 29th overall pick and the 76th overall pick.  The Blues would select Dominik Bokk and sign him to an entry level pick a few weeks later.  Bokk, who is originally from Germany was loaned back to his team in Sweden and never played a game in the Blues organization as he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes prior to the 2019-20 season.

Bokk would play two seasons in the American Hockey League and has most recently returned to Europe where he is currently playing in Germany.

As for the 29th overall selection, Dubas would select a player that was skating from his hometown Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League and drafted Rasmus Sandin.

Sandin was an offensive defenseman in the OHL averaging nearly a point per game in his one season in Canadian Major Junior Hockey.  He would immediately transition into professional hockey and suit up for the Toronto Marlies that upcoming spring once his junior season was done.

Over the next few seasons the Swedish defenseman would become a bottom pairing/depth defenseman for the Maple Leafs and be commonly used on the powerplay.

Unfortunately for Sandin, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Jake McCabe to be the middle pairing left shot defenseman the team always thought he would turn into and that left very limited opportunity for Sandin to move up the depth charts.

As a result of the McCabe acquisition Sandin was traded to the Washington Capitals where the Maple Leafs would be able to recoup a first round pick they used on him, as well as Erik Gustafsson.

Sandin had a very hot start to his career in Washington recording 12 points in his first 11 games before cooling off down the stretch where he collected three points in his final 10 games.

The Maple Leafs former top prospect now has one year left on a two-year contract he signed last off-season with Toronto.  Sandin will be a restricted free agent next year with arbitration rights.

Round 2, 52nd Overall – Sean Durzi

The Toronto Maple Leafs next selection in the draft was a pick the team acquired at the 2015-16 trade deadline when they sent Roman Polak and Nick Spaling to the San Jose Sharks.

Dubas stayed within the Ontario Hockey League and added an right shot offensive defenseman from the Owen Sound Attack’s in Sean Durzi.

Durzi was coming off a 49-point in 40 game season with the Attack where he added an additional 16-points in 11 playoff games.

Just seven months after being drafted, the Leafs were in playoff contention but needed a top four defenseman to join the organization and as such Durzi was used in trade with the Los Angeles Kings.

The Leafs acquired Jake Muzzin in exchange for forward prospect Carl Grundstrom, a 2019 first round pick and Durzi.  The first round pick was used on Tobias Bjornfot who took a step back this past season after earning a full-time role in 2021-22, he spent the majority of the last year in the American Hockey League.

Durzi would join the Kings American Hockey League affiliate Ontario Reign in the 2019-20 season, but it felt that he spent more time battling injuries over his first two years of professional hockey than he did playing, but show he had a lot of offensive upside.

After starting the 2021-22 season in the AHL, Durzi would earn a call-up and play his first NHL game in November 2021 The game came against the Toronto Maple Leafs and he got revenge on the team that traded him as he recorded a goal and an assist; he would follow that up with picking up points in his next two games.

In two seasons playing the NHL, the Toronto native has proven himself as a top four defenseman and can quarterback a powerplay.  Durzi averaged almost 20 minutes a night last season on a Stanley Cup contending team, while recording 16 points with the man advantage.

In what a lot of people thought was a shocking move, the Los Angeles Kings traded Durzi this past June to the Arizona Coyotes for a second round pick.  Durzi, who is still just 24-years old has one year left on his contract at $1.7 Million and the Coyotes will still have his rights at the end of the contract.

3rd Round, 76th Overall – Semyon Der-Arguchintsev

With the second pick that was obtained when Kyle Dubas traded away the 25th overall pick, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Semyon Der-Arguchintsev who was quickly nicknamed SDA by fans.

SDA was a very small, but skilled player that had he been one day younger would have been eligible for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and likely gone much higher.

Sticking with the first two picks, Dubas selected SDA out of the Ontario Hockey League, this time from the Peterborough Petes.  In his draft year, SDA recorded 51 points in 69 games and then received an invite to training camp that upcoming September before returning to Peterborough.

SDA would spend the next two seasons with the Petes where in his final year he would be paired up on a line with another Maple Leafs top prospect (Nick Robertson) where the duo would terrorize OHL goaltenders.

SDA would finish with not just averaging a point per game, but also finished with more than an assist per game as he recorded 63 assists and 75 points in 55 games, while Robertson would score 55-goals and 86-points in 46 games.

The Toronto Maple Leafs would assign SDA to the Toronto Marlies over the next couple of seasons which saw the Russian winger collect 40-points in 50-games this past year that earned him a call-up to the big club.

On December 6, SDA would make his NHL debut and play 7:06 against the Dallas Stars, receiving ten shifts and finish plus-1 on the night.

This past off-season, SDA’s contract expired with the Toronto Maple Leafs and they qualified him as to retain his rights, but no deal was completed.  He decided to return to Russia and sign a two-year deal with the Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL.

His season has already started in Russia, where he has collected an assist in his team’s only game so far which resulted in a 2-1 victory.

SDA will play alongside former Maple Leaf Nikita Soshnikov.

3rd Round, 83rd Overall – Riley Stotts

The Toronto Maple Leafs obtained the 83rd overall pick as one of two draft picks the team acquired in the trade that sent James Reimer to the San Jose Sharks two years previous.

With the third round pick, Dubas decided to leave the OHL, but remain in the CHL by drafting out of the Western Hockey League and selected Riley Stotts from the Calgary Hitman.

Stotts would start his draft season with the Swift Current Broncos which were stacked and the eventual Wester Hockey League champions, however with him being much younger than the teams core players he would be moved before the playoff run.  Midway through the season he was part of load up trade for the Broncos that sent him to the Calgary Hitman.

In Calgary, Stotts had more opportunity on a younger team and took advantage.  In Swift Current, he recorded just three points in 22 games, however as a Hitman, the future Maple Leafs draft pick would record 41-points in 47 games.

When he was drafted, some thought he could eventually turn into a middle six center, however he decided to take a different route.

No contract was ever signed with the Maple Leafs so Stott decided to take advantage of the CHL scholarship program and is currently attending the University of Calgary playing for their team.

Once players go the Canadian University route it is very rare they ever make it to the NHL.

4th Round, 118th Overall – Mac Hollowell

Some people like to stay in their comfort zone and for Kyle Dubas that is the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound.

With his fourth round selection he selected Mac Hollowell, who also played his junior career in the “Soo”.

Hollowell was overlooked in his first draft year, but Dubas decided to take a shot on a soon to be 20-year old right handed shot puck moving defenseman.

In his first draft year, the Niagara Falls native had just 23-points, however one year later was nearly a point per game as he collected 56-points in 63 games which led to the Maple Leafs selection.

In his final year with the Greyhounds, Hollowell scored 24-goals and 77-points in 64 games which led to an entry level contract from Toronto at the end of that season.

Hollowell would start his professional career with the Toronto Maple Leafs ECHL affiliate, the Newfoundland Growlers, however by midseason he was called up to the Toronto Marlies where he would be a mainstay for the next two years.

This past season, Hollowell earned a promotion and dressed in six games for the Leafs where he averaged nearly 13-minutes a night and recorded a pair of assists.

His entry level contract would expire this past off-season, however Toronto elected not to qualify him making him an unrestricted free agent.

On July 2, Hollowell would sign a two-way contract with the New York Rangers that would see him paid $775,000 in the NHL and $160,000 in the AHL,

5th Round, 149th Overall – Filip Král

Kyle Dubas decided to stay in the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League with his fifth round pick as he selected Filip Král form the Spokane Chiefs.

The Czech Republic born defenseman came over to the Western Hockey League in his draft season and put up 35-points in 54 games leading to his selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After drafted, he played the next two seasons for Spokane collecting 85 points in 100 games, while also representing the Czech Republic in his second World Junior Hockey Championships, after playing the year before.

After COVID shutdown the world he decided to start the 2020-21 season at home before joining the Toronto Marlies at the end of the season.

Over the past two years, Král has continued to play for the Marlies earning a call-up this past season to skate in two regular season games in late October with the Maple Leafs.

Král averaged nearly ten minutes a game over both contests but was returned to the Marlies where he finished out year.

When the off-season came, the organization decided not to tender him a contract and after two weeks of not signing with another NHL team, Král signed a one-year deal with the Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish hockey league.

6th Round, 156th Overall – Pontus Holmberg

For the first time in the draft, Dubas left the CHL and went overseas when he drafted Pontus Holmberg from the Swedish Hockey League.

This selection may end up being the steal of the draft and Dubas must have known it as he traded the Leafs 2019 sixth round selection to the Buffalo Sabres to be able to draft Holmberg.

The Swedish forward was overlooked in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft after playing throughout the Swedish junior divisions.

In his post draft year he was able to dress for two games with the Växjö Lakers HC of the Swedish Hockey League against men, which caught the eyes of the Maple Leafs.

After being drafted, Holmberg would stay in Sweden for three more seasons before he signed a two-year entry level contract with Toronto.

In his first season of his contract he wold be loaned back to Växjö where he averaged almost a point per game as a 22-year old.

At the end of that 2021-22 season he came over to play in a half dozen games with the Marlies and joined them permanently in 2022-23.

Holmberg started the years with the Marlies, however was called up to the Maple Leafs in early November and became a mainstay in the line-up until shortly before the trade deadline.

Holmberg played primarily as a fourth line center and in a penalty kill role.  He was often complimented by coach Sheldon Keefe for never making a mistake.

The now 24-year old was eligible for arbitration this past summer, but elected to sign a one-way two-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs worth an average of $800,000 per year deal.

7th Round, 209th Overall – Zachary Bouthillier

The Toronto Maple Leafs were sitting with the 209th overall selection thanks to a trade during the 2016-17 season that sent Jhonas Enroth to the Anaheim Ducks for the pick.

Dubas went back to the CHL and drafted goaltender Zach Bouthillier from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens after coming of a season where he posted a 3.42 GAA and .892 save percentage in 38 games.

Bouthillier would never get his junior career off the ground as he posted a 3.81 GAA and .892 save percentage over four seasons.

The Chambly, Quebec native would not receive an offer from the organization, however was able to earn a professional contract for the 2021-22 season when he played in the ECHL.

Bouthillier would split the season between the Maine Mariners and Fort Wayne Komets before signing on with Laval of the Quebec senior men’s semi professional league last year.

7th Round, 211th Overall – Semyon Kizimov

With their very last selection of the draft, Kyle Dubas selected Semyon Kizimov from Russia.

Kizimov had played the majority of his draft season in Russia’s junior league for Ladia Togliatti and represented his country at the World U18 tournament where he recorded three points in three games.

Over the last few seasons, Kizimov has remained in Russia splitting his time between the KHL, as well as the VHL which is Russia’s version of the AHL.

His rights are own by Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, however he was loaned to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk last year where he recorded 15 points in 22 games.

Kizimov has started the 2023-24 season back with Avtomobilist dressing in the team’s first game of the year. His rights are still retained by the Maple Leafs, but there does not appear to be any current interest in coming to North America.