The NHL Draft is a time where teams can either set themselves up for the next decade, or doom their team to never experience any sense of success for years to come. While the Toronto Maple Leafs have made some solid selections in recent memory, they have made some absolutely terrible decisions on the draft floor.
Considering where they were selected and how their career played out, let's look at the five worst draft picks in Maple Leafs history.
5. Justin Pogge -- 2004, 90th overall
Pogge was a fine netminder and was heralded as the Next Great Canadian goaltender after backstopping the Calgary Hitmen the year after the Leafs selected him in the third round, and posting an unbelievable .952 save percentage and 1.00 goals against average in six games for Team Canada at the World Juniors all the way back in 2006.
But, that's really where Pogge peaked. Some stunted development in the AHL and never really getting a hang of being able to be a pro-level goaltender in North America. Pogge was quickly traded to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Aaron Ward less than six years after being drafted.
But what makes it even worse is that because of Pogge playing so well in juniors, the Leafs felt comfortable trading away 2005 first-round pick Tuukka Rask to the Boston Bruins for Andrew Raycroft -- who was a much older goaltender. Raycroft was supposed to be the goaltender of the present and then Pogge be his successor. That didn't work out like that.
4. Frederik Gauthier -- 2013, 21st overall
When you draft a player 21st overall and his absolute ceiling is a third-line center, you just know it was an immediate mistake. In 2013, the Leafs liked what they had and were fooling themselves into believing that they can keep this time together.
With centers Nazem Kadri and Mikhail Grabovski on the team, maybe they just need a third-line center? So, they take a center that wasn't even a point-per-game in the QMJHL and it never becomes anything.
Gauthier did play 168 games for the Leafs, but in a fourth-line role and just as someone that they wanted to keep around until they got someone better to fill that role.
He was a fan favorite for his lighthearted joy for life off the ice, but he was just not a good selection that high in the draft. Especially considering some players like Andre Burakovsky and Shea Theodore were selected within the next few picks.
3. Yegor Korshkov -- 2016, 31st overall
This is one where maybe the Leafs were just trying to act like the smartest team in hockey. They get Auston Matthews at first overall so they are riding high. And then to start the second day of the draft, with the first pick of the second round, they take an overager Russian winger who had 12 points in 41 games in the KHL.
He was a 6-foot-4 forward who didn't skate particularly well, but we suppose it might have been worth a shot if they thought they could develop Korshkov any further. Unfortunately, that did not happen and Korshkov only played one full season in North America.
With that one season he played 44 games with the AHL Toronto Marlies and played one single NHL game. It was Feb. 16, 2020 in Buffalo in a 5-2 loss for the Leafs -- but he did score his one and only NHL goal. What a story.
(It also hurts just a little bit more considering Jordan Kyrou and Alex DeBrincat were obvious selections at that time that felt like first-round talents who slipped. And look at them now.)
2. Luca Cereda -- 1999, 24th overall
This is just an unfortunate story overall, but it was a miscue. In 199, the Leafs took a big swing on Swiss center Luca Cereda with the 24 overall selection. Going for a player that has already played pro games in Europe feels like a good chance to develop into something more. Well, Cereda did not.
He was diagnosed with a serious heart condition shortly after being drafted and never played in an NHL game. It's hard to have the foresight to be able to scope that out, but it's still a rough go.
Martin Havlat was taken just two picks after Toronto nabbed Cereda.
1. Tyler Biggs -- 2011, 22nd overall
This has to be the first draft pick that comes to mind for just about every single Leafs fan when it comes to terrible picks.
It was in the middle of the Brian Burke Era and the need to play with truculence was more present than ever. And instead of getting some soft European forward or a Canadian junior player that needed more seasoning, the Leafs decide to get one of the "NHL-ready" talents out of the U.S. National Development Team.
Well, Biggs went to go play for Miami University in Ohio after being drafted and scored just nine goals and 17 points in 37 games. The following season he left college and decided to go play in the OHL instead, suiting up for the Oshawa Generals and still, at 19 years old he was only able to score 53 points in 60 games on a team that was stacked with future NHLers like Boone Jenner and Scott Laughton.
Biggs would then head to the AHL but never even made a dent. He wouldn't score more than nine points in a season in the AHL and was seen as more of a decent ECHL player by the time he retired from pro hockey in 2019.
It's not on the player to be drafted that high, but it was just a terrible mistake made and that's what happens when a team drafts for a specific need instead of just getting as much talent as possible.
What makes it hurt more is that the Leafs had another first-round pick that year, just three spots later at 25th overall and took Stuart Percy. Twelve total NHL games combined between the team (Biggs didn't play a game in the NHL).
But, you know what is the cream of the crop when it comes to terrible decision making? The Leafs traded up to get Biggs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs traded up to a draft a player that didn't even come close to playing in the NHL and wasn't even good in the AHL.
So, who was taken with those picks they traded away to move to 22nd overall? Rickard Rakell at 30th overall, and John Gibson at 39th overall. The Leafs could have had one of the better pure scorers out of that draft and been set in goal for at least a decade, if they just were fine taking the longer route instead of going for the Big and burly American winger.
That's something this fan base will never forget.