Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 NHL Draft Retrospective

This is the fourth installment of my draft retrospective series where I will be looking at the Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 NHL Draft.

The Toronto Maple Leafs entered this draft with seven total picks. It should be noted that the Leafs would have held nine but included a 2017 second in the deal for Frederik Andersen and had traded another one away for Brian Boyle at the 2017 deadline.

The Leafs held; One first (17th overall), a second (59th overall), two fourths (110th and 124th overall), a fifth (141st overall), a sixth (172nd overall), and a seventh (203rd overall).

They did not have a third round pick in the 2017 because it was sent to the Detroit Red Wings as compensation for hiring head coach Mike Babcock.

It is odd that the Leafs did not have more picks given they were only one year out from drafting first overall. Many felt that they should have sold more players but due to them being in the playoff hunt, Leafs management decided to “buy” at the deadline.

This was the final of the Mark Hunter/Lou Lamoriello era. So far, the drafts have not been good but as they say, third time’s a charm right?

First Pick

At 17th overall, the Leafs were able to nab Swedish right-handed defenseman Timothy Liljegren. Heading into the year, Liljegren was a projected top-five pick but due to a bout with Mononucleosis causing him to miss much of the year, he fell down rankings.

Labelled as a mobile offensive-defenseman and with already two seasons in the SHL under his belt, Leafs nation felt that they had gotten a major steal. 

Liljegren joined the Toronto Marlies immediately, spending the majority of the next four years there. The long time he spent in the Leafs system caused people to lose faith in the blueliner who was only 22-years-old. He had already been surpassed by players on the depth chart, like Rasmus Sandin and many felt he would either never break through or he would not live up to expectations. 

The bust label was quickly ripped off after Liljegren made the Leafs on a full-time basis in 2021-22. He showcased his offensive upside scoring 23 points in only 61 games playing mainly third-pair minutes and limited special teams.

Since then, he has seen consistent upticks in his usage, now averaging nearly 20 minutes a night and proving capable of playing both powerplay and penalty kill. Unless massive changes are made to the Leafs blueline, Liljegren should be good to continue his role playing second pairing minutes. 

Seven years out, this looks like a good pick by the Leafs. There are of course better players who were taken in the picks that followed but it’s hard to knock a 2nd pair right-handed defenseman who is closing in on 200 games played so far. 

Second Pick

Nearing the end of the second round at 59th overall, the Leafs decided to pick another European right-shot defender, this time in 6-7 Eemeli Rasanen.

He was seen as a defensive-minded blueliner who was capable of delivering big checks and using his long reach to disrupt plays.

However, from the very beginning his skating was brought up as a major flaw to his game. 

The following season he returned to the Kingston Frontenacs but then went back to join Finland’s KHL team: Jokerit. It was seen as a strange move at the time because he was clearly not so much above than the competition that playing in the OHL would stunt his development. But, playing in the KHL where he was used sparingly, could. 

It might not have been the sole reason but seven years later, Rasanen has only played five games in the Leafs system, all with the Toronto Marlies in 2018-19.

Since then, he has struggled to find his footing playing in various European leagues in Finland, Denmark, and Sweden.

According to everything that I could find, he did not play this year and it is unclear what he is up to or if he plans to make a comeback to professional hockey. 

This was a bad pick.

Fourth Pick

At 124th overall, the Leafs chose another overage Russian forward, Vladislav Kara.

It was a strange pick at the time as his numbers did not pop off the page, even as an overager and he was unranked on many major draft boards.

Regardless, he had decent size at 6-2 and 187lbs, played a more powerforward game and had a good shot.

He also had utility as both a center and wing. The lack of information coupled with this made him an interesting prospect in the Leafs system.

In 2018, he made his KHL debut and one year after being drafted he flew to Toronto to attend Leafs development camp.

After that, there was little connection between Kara and the team. Since then, he has been able to grind his way up from a KHL/VHL tweener to a full-time KHL player the past couple seasons.

Of course now at 26 years old, it is very unlikely that Kara ever plays a game in North America let alone donning the blue and white.

This was another wasted pick during a time when the Leafs really could have used a win or two in the draft.

Fifth Pick

In the fifth round and 141st overall, the Leafs selected 6-7 defender from the Flint Firebirds, Fedor Gordeev.

He fits into the mould that was clearly favoured at the time as shown by numerous other players like; Stephen Desrocher, Keaton Middleton, Nicolas Mattinen, Eemeli Rasanen, and now himself.

This mould is as a big hulking blueliner with very little offensive output. Despite this, he did appear to have good puck skills and solid mobility.

Gordeev would spend the next few seasons playing in the OHL between the Firebirds and Guelph Storm.

He was a part of the Storm’s 2019 OHL Championship roster joining them as a deadline acquisition. Following that season, the Leafs would trade his rights to the Minnesota Wild for a conditional seventh in 2020.

He has since mainly stuck around in the ECHL before joining Sibir Novosibirsk in the KHL last year and then coming back to the ECHL. However, as of right now he appears to be returning to Sibir for the 2024-25 season. 

At 25 years old, his NHL prospects are not completely gone yet as we have seen some players go overseas and be able to make a come back. But, given his level of play thus far, it seems unlikely that Gordeev is able to make it to the show at this stage.

Sixth Pick

Ryan McGregor was drafted 172nd overall in the sixth round out of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting.

Despite getting a decent opportunity he only amassed 27 points in 65 games in his draft year as a forward.

He was seen as a player with some promising tools but was undersized and had a raw game.

He was able to show signs of improvement scoring over 25 goals in each of his last two seasons in junior and reaching 77 points in 61 games and 68 in 52, respectively.

He would be left unsigned by the club but would receive a three-year ELC with the Arizona Coyotes in 2020.

Throughout this he played with the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate the Tuscon Roadrunners and impressed enough to receive another contract with the team.

After playing in Tuscon again last season scoring 13 points in 44 games, he has yet to receive an extension as the team has moved to Utah. However, he did sign an AHL contract with the club and is expected to return for a fifth season next year.

This is another wasted pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are almost unbelievably bad at drafting.

Seventh Pick

Ryan O’Connell was the Leafs’ final pick in 2017 at 203rd overall in the seventh round.

It was also the final pick for Mark Hunter with the team as he would return to the London Knights ahead of the 2018 NHL Draft. 

O’Connell played his draft year with St. Andrew’s College where he was the highest scoring defenseman on the team by points per game with 33 in 47.

He was seen as a sound two-way defender with good mobility and the stats showed some promise.

He was also a commit to the prestigious Boston University program in the NCAA. However, he joined the BCHL’s Penticton Vees for a year and then opted to join Ohio State instead. There, spent four years before joining Michigan Tech for a fifth year.

All-in-all he scored 28 points in 152 games which even as a defender is a very low rate of production.

Unsurprisingly, the Leafs let his rights expire and he went to the French third division to play this past year. 

His NHL aspirations seem almost nonexistent at this point and might not even be a playing professional hockey in a few years.

Conclusion

This draft, much like the last couple have proven to be utter disasters for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

When it comes to Leafs Drafts, 2014 wasn't very good. 2015 Was a total disaster. 2016 was somehow worse.

Fortunately, the 2017 Draft has been relatively underwhelming in hindsight but there was still value to be had that would be very beneficial for the club today.

It is even more unacceptable that the draft strategy employed by the team was once again predictably bad from day one.

The Leafs, during the Hunter era, consistently opted to draft combinations of players who were underproducing, overage, oversized, and in many cases all of the above. (All Stats Via Eliteprospects.com).

The 2017 draft was no exception and saw the team draft Rasanen, Kara, Gordeev, McGregor, and O'Connell who all fit at least one of these categories.

Rightly or wrongly, the NHL is a results based business and the Hunter/Lou years have yielded very little in terms of results at the draft table. It is good that the apparent strategy was flawed even at the time so that way it is quite easy to evaluate and fix.

Luckily, the drafts under Dubas seem to have corrected these wrongs.