Mock NHL Entry Draft: Toronto Maple Leafs Draft 23rd

The Toronto Maple Leafs hold the 23rd pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, which begins Friday night and concludes with rounds 2-7 on Saturday.

Last year the Toronto Maple Leafs traded their pick, but acquired a pick from the Washington Capitals which they then used to select Easton Cowan with the 28th selection.

As of this writing, the Leafs still have their pick though they are rumoured to have offered it to Calgary last week in an attempt to get Jacob Markstrom.

The attempted trade did not materialize and the Leafs are presumably still looking for a goalie, and presumably their first round pick is still in play.

Be that as it may, the Leafs really should use the selection if they can because they don't have a very good group of prospects and nailing this pick would be extremely benificial.

With that in mind, they may still not have any choice. The team has needs and those needs (goalender, multiple defensemen) are better addressed through trade than free-agency and the Leafs draft pick is one of their best assets.

Though they have already traded next year's pick, in last year's Jake McCabe trade, the Leafs are in win-now mode because Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are in their primes.

As for the rest of the NHL, the number-one pick belongs to the San Jose Sharks who have not picked this high since they took Patrick Marleau.

The number two pick belongs to the Blackhawks who had the top pick last year.

As with every year I will be hoping that the Toronto Maple Leafs move into the top five with a surprise tarde, but that seems unlikely.

Here is our mock draft, with the caveat that I don't know a ton about these players. I did my research and tried to have a little fun. Much of my information comes from eliteprospects.com as well as the profiles that Austin Kelly wrote up for the site.