As unfortunate as it is to say, the Toronto Maple Leafs have not been the best at drafting proper talent up until the past few years. Looking back at the highly-talented 2015 NHL Draft class, the team missed out on one great forward that could've anchored the lineup for years to come. That player is Travis Konecny.
Konecny was selected 24th overall that year by the Philadelphia Flyers, thanks to a trade for the 29th overall and 61st overall picks in the same draft. With those new picks, the Leafs selected defenceman Travis Dermott (29th) and forward Jeremy Bracco (61st).
At the time, not much was made of the trade, especially with the hype and excitement surrounding Mitch Marner, who was taken earlier in the round at fourth overall. However, looking back, a big opportunity was missed. Konecny, in his first OHL season, led the Ottawa 67's in points (70), assists (44) and was second on the team in goals (26). He finished his OHL career with two straight point-per-game seasons after his first, which gave him a nice boost in his draft stock.
With 10 NHL seasons now under his belt, Konecny is currently a two-time All-Star (2020, 2024). Although he has yet to win any major awards in the league, he cemented himself as a cornerstone piece to build around when he was drafted and is now a true leader in Broad Street.
Looking at what the Leafs chose instead of Konecny already has some fans pulling their hair out. Dermott seemed like a fit on the blueline for a rebuilding club in Toronto. This was certainly not the case, as in five seasons with the Leafs, he never totalled more than 17 points in a season (accomplished in his second NHL year).
After the trade that sent Dermott to the Vancouver Canucks in 2022, he was still struggling heavily and hadn't seen NHL ice time since the 2024-25 season, when he split very little time between the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild. Dermott suited up in five games for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL, but only recorded three assists in that time.
The next pick, Bracco, never saw NHL ice time with the Leafs, nor any other team for that matter. He spent three seasons in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies and looked especially promising during the 2018-19 season when Bracco led all Marlies players in points (79), assists (57) and placed third on the squad in goals (22).
Since then, he has bounced around Europe, playing in Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia and Austria. Last season, Bracco split time with Eisbären Regensburg of the DEL2 (Germany) and put up 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists), making one of the top players for the squad. While a comeback to North America might be a possibility with those numbers, the Leafs still were not able to get anything much out of him.
Drafting Konecny would have created a three-headed monster up front
As mentioned before, the Leafs selected Marner fourth overall in this draft. However, if they selected Konecny, they would've then had two promising wingers to anchor down spots in the lineup. What makes this more dreadful to look at is that if the club had still had their terrible 2015-16 campaign and selected Auston Matthews first overall in 2016, a highly possible Konecny, Matthews and Marner line would have been a turning point for the franchise.
Although Konecny would've helped the forward group immensely, the defence and goaltending issues might have still been there. The thought of having a him man the wing on a line with Matthews and Marner in the past would've easily made one of the best top lines in the league. Even now, Konecny would still make a lasting impact by dishing passes to Matthews.
While the Leafs ended up on the losing end of that trade down involving Konecny, they still have young, up-and-coming, promising talent in Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan, and now Gavin McKenna to heal the loss.
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