Toronto Maple Leafs 2015 NHL Draft Retrospective

I recently looked back at the Toronto Maple Leafs 2014 Draft class and have decided to make it a series. Today, I will be looking back at their 2015 NHL Draft Class.

This draft came just a couple short months after President Brendan Shanahan committed the Toronto Maple Leafs version of the game of thrones’ “red wedding," the “blue wedding” if you will. It was one of the first major moves in service of what was dubbed a “scorched-earth rebuild” approach. He fired more than 20 Leafs staffers including GM Dave Nonis, the entire coaching staff, and large amounts of the scouting staff. 

This left assistant GMs Mark Hunter and Kyle Dubas to take over the managerial roles in tandem. Together, the team of Dubas, Hunter, and Shanahan navigated the draft and free agency periods before hiring Lou Lamoriello to take on the permanent GM role.

The Leafs had also landed the top coaching free agent in Mike Babcock, making him the highest paid coach in NHL history in the process.

Heading into draft day the Leafs held two firsts (fourth and 24th overall) and did not have a pick until round three (65th overall). They also had their own picks in rounds four through seven at 95th, 125th, 155th, and 185th respectively. 

At the draft, the Leafs traded the 24th overall pick for the 29th and 61st pick. They then swapped the 29th pick for picks 34 and 68.

This left them with nine picks in total at: fourth, 34th, 61st, 68th, 95th, 125th, 155th, and 185th overall picks. 

Let's see how they did.

Toronto Maple Leafs 2015 Draft Retrospective

Fourth Overall - Mitch Marner

Heading into the 2015 draft, the first two picks were essentially etched in stone.

It was the Connor McDavid draft for a reason and he was the consensus number one pick with Jack Eichel being seen as a great consolation prize for any team tanking.

After them is where the draft really opened up and the Leafs seemed to have quite a few viable options available to them.

Like the Nylander draft, some wanted bigger body powerforward types in Pavel Zacha or Lawson Crouse. Others wanted a defenseman in Noah Hanifin, Ivan Provorov, and Zach Werenski.

Reportedly, even Leafs’ coach Mike Babcock attempted to sway the draft decision away from Marner.

The Leafs braintrust ultimately chose Mitch Marner from the London Knights at fourth overall with Mark Hunter fittingly announcing the pick and nine years later, it was undoubtedly the correct call.

He currently sits second only behind Connor McDavid for points of the 2015 NHL Draft class. In 576 games played he has scored 195 goals and 639 points and is firmly on track to be a hall of famer and go down as one of the best Toronto Maple Leafs of all-time. 

Stats from nhl.com and eliteprospects.com.

61st overall - Jeremy Bracco

At 61, the Leafs opted to shoot for potential taking high-scoring playmaking winger from the USNTDP, Jeremy Bracco.

Anytime you can take a player who has an elite skill in any capacity outside of the first round, you should jump on them and that’s what the Leafs did here.

Unfortunately, Bracco did have some flaws to his game like average to below average skating and poor defensive skills. In the year following his draft, he played five games with Boston College before abruptly leaving to join the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. There, he spent the next season and a half before being dealt to the Windsor Spitfires during the season. 

He finished his OHL career producing 147 points in 106 games. Then moving to the Marlies he impressed as well racking up 32 points in 50 games and finished his ELC with 145 points in 169 games.

At every level he showed his elite playmaking, with assists making up 113 of his 145 AHL points. Since leaving the Leafs organization he has bounced around playing in the Liiga, DEL, and KHL. That is where he most recently played but is entering the 2024-25 off-season without a contract.

As of right now, he has yet to play an NHL game but at 27 and with his impressive production in Europe, he could make a case to get at least a flyer taken on him from an NHL team.

65th overall - Andrew Nielsen

At 65th, the Leafs opted to address a need by grabbing towering defenseman Andrew Nielsen who was listed at 6-3 and 207lbs.

On the surface his low production (24 points in 59 games) combined with his triple-digit penalty minutes made him seem like the Leafs reached on a low-ceiling defender but he did have some positive attributes.

His production or lack thereof came on a poor Lethbridge Hurricanes team which was not conducive to racking up points. 

He also needed to work on his skating which if done, would help boost his NHL potential ceiling. After finishing his junior career on a high note racking up 70 points in 71 games he made the Toronto Marlies the following season.

He would continue to show improvements racking up 65 points in 139 games with the Marlies but after still not catching a break, the Leafs traded him to Brad Treliving’s Calgary Flames in 2018 for prospect Morgan Klimchuk.

He struggled to find his footing in Calgary for the Stockton Heat and did not produce near the rate he did in Toronto. He went on to sign a series of minor league deals starting in 2020-21 and bounced between the AHL and ECHL for a few seasons until he ended up playing in Norway and Slovakia this past season. 

We don’t know what is in store next for Nielsen but it looks like he probably won’t be NHL bound.

68th overall Martins Dzierkals

Up to this point in the draft, the Leafs seemed to go back and forth between projectable players to higher upside guys.

Since Nielsen fit the former, at 68th they took Latvian winger Martins Dzierkals. Heading into the draft, Dzierkals turned heads at the world U-18s as he lead Latvia in scoring with nine points in six games and finished tenth tournament wide.

Before that he played admirably in the Russian Junior MHL and in Latvian juniors. He was on the smaller side at 5’11 and sub-170lbs but he had solid tools that the Leafs development staff could build from.

After his draft year he came to North America and played for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the QMJHL. There, he was able to adjust to the different ice surface and playstyle and scored at a respectable rate finishing his junior career with 45 goals and 116 points in 109 games. 

After he turned pro, things did not look so optimistic. He failed to secure a spot for the Marlies and spent his rookie year with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL. There, he produced 36 points in 51 games and was held pointless in four games with the Marlies.

The following season he went over to Europe and played primarily in the KHL. Since then, he has bounced around the different professional leagues, having stints in the Liiga, KHL, Czechia, and SHL. 

He has struggled to recapture the high levels of production he showed earlier on in his career. His NHL rights have since been dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights but it does not seem like he will be making his NHL debut anytime soon.

95th overall - Jesper Lindgren

Surprisingly, the Toronto Maple Leafs switched up and went for potential once again.

This time grabbing the small-framed 6-0 161lbs right-shot Swedish defenseman Jesper Lindgren.

He had shown plenty of promise with Modo’s J20 squad racking up 33 points in 39 games. He also showed solid defensive abilities and good skating skills which would help his NHL projection. 

He spent the next couple seasons after his draft rising the ranks with Modo before what felt like a breakout 2016-17 campaign where he scored 24 points in 50 games.

Due likely to a logjam with the Marlies he then spent the following two seasons in the Finnish Liiga playing with HPK. He briefly joined the Marlies in 2019-20 playing 31 games and racking up none points before heading back to the Allsvenskan where he remains to this day.

His NHL rights have now expired and he too does not seem to be knocking on the NHL’s door anytime soon.

125th overall - Dmytro Timashov

Once again, the Leafs swung for the fences with their 105th overall selection by taking winger Dmytro Timashov.

He had blown away the QMJHL in his first North American season producing 19 goals and 90 points in 66 games and capturing the Q’s rookie of the year award.

His production would take a slight uptick the following year posting 22 goals and 85 points in 57 games between the Quebec Remparts and Shawinigan Cataractes.

He would also go point-per-game in seven games for Sweden at the World Juniors. 

He would turn pro the following year with the Toronto Marlies and would take time to find his scoring touch at the next level.

In his rookie season he only hit 24 points in 63 games but would steadily progress from there. He played three seasons with the Leafs AHL affiliate scoring 38 goals and 107 points in 202 games, helping capture a Calder Cup with them in 2018.

His progression would earn him a spot on the Maple Leafs roster in 2019-20 playing a primarily fourth line role.

He would amass nine points through 39 games before being picked off waivers by the Detroit Red Wings where he was held off the scoresheet in five games. 

He would be left unsigned by the Red Wings and have his rights deald and ultimately sign with with Lou Lamoriello and the New York Islanders for the next two seasons.

He would play one more NHL game before leaving to join Brynäs IF of the SHL in 2021-22. He stayed there one more season before going to the NL’s HC Ajoie this past season. Overall, he has played 45 games in the NHL scoring nine points. 

155th overall - Stephen Desrocher

The Leafs switched things up with their sixth round and second last pick at the draft taking Stephen Desrocher from the Oshawa Generals.

He was a 6-4 nearly 200lbs defender who played like you would expect somebody with that physical makeup to.

He was also an overager, being eligible in 2014. Although the optimism surrounding most sixth rounders is usually pretty low, this felt like a “safe pick” and was a clear deviation from the last few.

However, he showed positive signs going from 23 points in 66 games the year he was drafted (his DY+1) to 46 in 69 the following year with the Generals and Kingston Frontenacs.

The following season he would don the “C” for the Frontenacs and take another step in production with 51 points in 65 games. 

Despite his progress, Desrocher would not be given an ELC and would play five years (technically four with the Covid-19 shutdown in 2020-21) for the University of Western Ontario in Canada’s Usports.

Following his University career, he would move to the ECHL’s Florida Everblades and then the AlpsHL before joining the EIHL in Scotland this year playing for the Fife Flyers and Glasgow Clan.

It is unclear at this time what his plans are for next season but once again, the NHL does not seem likely.

185th overall - Nikita Korostelev

The Toronto Maple Leafs ended the 2016 draft with what was viewed as potential steal grabbing Sarnia Sting winger Nikita Korostelev.

He was widely regarded as a top-90 pick before the draft started but his skating issues seemed to be the main reason for his fall. He was originally drafted ninth overall by the Sting in the 2013 OHL Priority selection and had put together a pretty impressive stat sheet, dominating at every level.

Although his 24 goals and 53 points in 55 games do not jump out, he was the leading scorer for his team in a year where he was mostly 17. 

He would show regression offensively the following year scoring only 42 points in 53 games but would bounce back the next two seasons with the Sting and Peterborough Petes.

He would play a total of 119 games over those two years, scoring 59 goals and 139 points. However, he would not be given an ELC and instead would sign a minor league deal with the Cleveland Monsters.

There he would bounce between them and the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen before returning to his home country in the KHL and VHL. He has spent the past five seasons and has been a mainstay in the top Russian league for a few seasons now amassing 66 goals and 105 points in 216 games played.

He is currently signed with the Severstal Cherepovets for the 2024-25 season and looks like he will continue to play in the KHL for the remainder of his career.

Conclusion

Considering that this draft was the first real draft of the rebuild, it was largely a bust.

Similar to the drafts where the Leafs picked Morgan Rielly, William Nylander and Auston Matthews, this draft produced almost nothing after the first round.

Obviously the success of Mitch Marner masks it to some extent but outside of the first two rounds, only one player has played any NHL games and it was a whopping 45.

This was simply not a good enough return when you are trying to rebuild a team from the ground up and this lack of draft success played a major factor in the issues that have plagued the Leafs to this day. 

Had the Leafs scored on even a couple of players after Marner, the entire history of the franchise could have been altered for the better.

The biggest factor in this draft was the mistake of punting their second first-rounder. They started out with the 24th pick, but moved down to 29th to add Bracco, and then moved from 29th into the second round where they took Dermott and used the second pick on Dzierkels.

This move is pretty smart - you trade one longshot pick and end up moving down eight spots and you get two extra prospects - but when the guy you passed on turns out to be Travis Koknecy and you don't get anything with the three picks you have, it looks pretty bad.

But had they taken Sabastian Aho instead of Dermott (Aho picked one selection after) this would have looked like a genius move.

The Leafs consistently missed on players that would have helped them to supplement their young core. In the ten picks following Travis Dermott, players like; Sebastien Aho, Brandon Carlo, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Erik Cernak were selected.

Even one of these players could have greatly changed the outlook of the team and had they been able to capitalize on one or two more picks throughout this draft, it could have set the franchise up for a decade or more. Instead, the Leafs have one playoff round win in the past 19 years to show for it.