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.