The 5 Best Toronto Maple Leafs First Round Draft Picks in the 21st Century
Which star players managed to make this Maple Leafs distinguished list?
In recent years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have often found themselves sacrificing their first round draft pick in exchange for a hopeful, deep run in the playoffs.
Nevertheless, since the turn of the century, the Toronto Maple Leafs have actually still managed to secure a first round selection in 17 of the past 24 years.
In doing so, some may have become complete flops, such as Tyler Biggs and Stuart Percy. But there have been many others that actually turned out quite well and became key contributors in the NHL as a result.
Here, we will take a look at the five best first round draft picks that the Maple Leafs managed to select since 2000, with hopes that their 2024 one this year will turn out to be just as successful.
The 5 Best Toronto Maple Leafs First Round Draft Picks in the 21st Century
Morgan Rielly
Following the era in which Tomas Kaberle had been the main general leading the Leafs defensive corps, the club struggled to find some homegrown, top-pairing defenseman talent to be his successor.
That was until the 2012 NHL Entry Draft when Toronto selected Morgan Rielly fifth overall. From there, Rielly blossomed into an elite player in the back end for the Leafs and had been leading the team ever since for the past decade.
In doing so, Rielly currently ranks third on the Leafs all-time list for defenseman in assists (392) and points (472), and a respectable eighth in goals (80).
His best season came in 2018-19 when he registered a career-high 20 goals and 72 points, while finishing fifth in voting for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.
If he can somehow maintain his production and remain a Maple Leaf for the rest of his career, he will have the opportunity to surpass the legendary Borje Salming and his 768 points to become the Leafs all-time leader in points for a defenseman.
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.
Tuukka Rask
Not many goaltenders were usually taken as early as the first round of a draft, unless it was believed that they were already performing at an elite level with the potentials of becoming a star in the league as a result. Well, the Leafs took the big gamble back in 2005 when they took Finnish goalie Tuukka Rask with their 21st overall pick. That selection turned out to be huge, based on how Rask’s career ended up being.
From there, Rask would go on to put up eye-popping, dominant numbers in what would ultimately become an illustrious 15-year career in the NHL.
With a lifetime 2.28 GAA, .921 save percentage and 308 wins in his resume, Rask also managed to add a Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings Trophy to his trophy case. On top of that, he had won the Stanley Cup once as a backup, as well as reaching the Finals as a starter on two other occasions.
All of that was fantastic, but unfortunately Rask would accomplish all of those feats in a Boston Bruins uniform.
For a Maple Leafs team that had been constantly looking for top-notch goaltending the past couple of decades to man their crease, they sure gave a true winner away in which they once had firmly in their grasp. So the moral of the story for the Leafs: don’t give up a first round selection that you make until you truly know what they are capable in doing.
Auston Matthews
Finally, we have the none other than the face of the franchise in Auston Matthews.
Often classified as of one of the top generational talents in the past decade in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs certainly have been a completely different team since selecting Matthews first overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
He has also been the most successful of all first round draft picks made by the Leafs during this part of the century.
In terms of his accomplishments, Matthews has took home the Calder Trophy back in his rookie season in 2016-17, along with being a Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner, and a three-time Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner for leading the entire league in goals.
In addition, with 368 career goals, he finds himself trailing only Darryl Sittler and Mats Sundin on the Leafs all-time goals list. His 649 career points as a Leaf also places him sixth on the franchise’s all-time points list. (All stats from NHL.com and QuantHockey.com)
When all is said and done, Matthews could become the best player to have ever played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But one thing that still eludes him in what has been an impressive resume is capturing the elusive Stanley Cup.
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Hopefully, he will ultimately be able to help Toronto bring home Lord Stanley’s mug at least once during what should be an illustrious tenure and career for Matthews with the club.