The 5 Best Toronto Maple Leafs First Round Draft Picks in the 21st Century

William Nylander

Often overshadowed by the tantalizing play of the dynamic duo of Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews, William Nylander has nevertheless carved out quite an impressive career so far with the Maple Leafs since being selected 8th overall by the team in the 2014 NHL Draft.

With 217 goals, 311 assists and 528 points, Nylander currently finds himself in 13th place on the Leafs all-time scoring list.

Although he has been often scrutinized for his timid style of play on the ice at times, Nylander has really stepped it up this past season and has become an offensive force to be reckoned with as a result.

In addition, he had been one of the Leafs top playoff performers in recent years, with 20 goals, 23 assists and 43 points in 54 career playoff games. With Nylander hitting his prime, hopefully he can become a catalyst in helping the team finally reach the next level.

Mitch Marner

Although the Leafs just barely missed out on getting Connor McDavid in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft as a result of a ping pong ball, they certainly got a great consolation prize when they snagged Mitch Marner with the fourth overall pick that year.

The magical wizardry constantly demonstrated by Marner with the puck is nothing the team has seen since way back in the days when Doug Gilmour was still with the team.

The three-time NHL All-Star currently ranks fifth on the Leafs all-time list in assists with 445 and eighth in points with 639.

However, with the constant rumors that Marner could be dealt this offseason, his days as a Leaf could be hanging by the thread. Nevertheless, the endless joy and excitement that he brought to the city in addition to helping the club become a team of relevance once again since 2016 will never be forgotten, no matter what his ultimate fate will end up being.