Second Pick
The Leafs were up first once again on day two of the draft and there were many intriguing players available.
Swedish two-way center Rasmus Asplund who had been playing in the SHL for two seasons. Prolific OHL goal scorer Alex DeBrincat had shown his impressive abilities in both seasons in major junior with back-to-back 51 goal seasons.
However, the main knock on him was his small 5-7 165lbs frame. There was also the diminutive but dynamic defender, Sam Girard from the QMJHL. There was even the dynamic Jordan Kyrou who was a 200ft playmaker.
The Leafs opted to go off the board, selecting twice-overage Russian winger and World Juniors standout Yegor Korshkov. He had a large build at 6-4 and 200+lbs and played a powerforward game that had elements of translatability.
Unfortunately, eight years later Korshkov has played one NHL game and 45 total in North America all in the Covid-shortened 2019-20 season.
His brightest moment was scoring a goal in that one game but he was loaned back to the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl the following year where he has remained since. He did however have his rights traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for Alex Galchenyuk that same season.
He is likely never going to play another game in North America but he remains a solid KHL contributor setting a career high 44 points in 62 games this past season. Given all of the players the Leafs missed on, the Korshkov pick has gone down as one of the worst in the Hunter/Lamoriello era.