Toronto Maple Leafs

[Mr. Guru]

The only picks I like were Matthews and Grundstrom and ....The Russian at 32 I didn't know.

But at this stage in the draft does it really matter what they say/do? As long as some of them turn out to be serviceable than it's a good pick. I liked our draft better last year so I'll likely compare the drafts in a few years but until then does anyone really know?

[Mr. Guru]

JvR- Kadri/Stamkos – Marner (doesn’t start on the top line)
Nylander-Bozak/Kadri – PAP (Resigns), or Sosh
Rychel – Matthews – Hyman?
Greening – Laich –

No Lupul? No Komarov? Michalek?


Lines Id like to see:

JVR - Bozak - Stamkos
Marner - Kadri - Komarov
Lupul/Michalek/Greening - Matthews - Nylander
Lupul/Michalek/Greening - Laich - Lupul/Michalek/Greening


But that's with Stamkos as a winger.....which probably wont happen but should.

[Eskimo Brother]

No Lupul? No Komarov? Michalek?


Lines Id like to see:

JVR - Bozak - Stamkos
Marner - Kadri - Komarov
Lupul/Michalek/Greening - Matthews - Nylander
Lupul/Michalek/Greening - Laich - Lupul/Michalek/Greening


But that's with Stamkos as a winger.....which probably wont happen but should.

Komarov should be in there, Lupul will be injured, abd Michalek is an afterthought.

[Mr. Guru]

I can't help but wonder if Lou's influence was the main reason this year's draft seemed so odd. Last year's draft seemed entirely run by Hunter who loves skill.
I personally think they made many mistakes in drafting size and/or grit over skill this year. They can always trade for 3rd line grinders down the road when they need them. In the meantime they should be focused on drafting skill and try to find a hidden gem with late round picks.

Feels like they drafted some Kordics and passed up many Courtnalls in doing so...

100% agree and why it will be very fun to see which one was a better draft in 4-7 years.

- - - Updated - - -

Michalek, Greening, Laich are locks for bottom 6.....Including Lupul, assuming we are going with the roster we currently have.

[2014olympicgold]

No Lupul? No Komarov? Michalek?


Lines Id like to see:

JVR - Bozak - Stamkos
Marner - Kadri - Komarov
Lupul/Michalek/Greening - Matthews - Nylander
Lupul/Michalek/Greening - Laich - Lupul/Michalek/Greening


But that's with Stamkos as a winger.....which probably wont happen but should.

Ya I forgot about Leo. Michalek was solid on the 4^th line with Greening/Laich.

JvR-Kadri-Sosh?
Nylander-Bozak-Leo/Marner
Rychel-Matthews-Leo/Marner
Michalek-Greening-Laich

Marner is a RW BTW. Honestly by yrs end, it’ll be really different than the start.

@@Guru, you think they’ll start the clock on Nylander’s contract last yr and not have a spot for his to lose this yr? And Lou said Lupul may not even play next yr at the end of the season.

[Mr. Guru]

@@Guru, you think they’ll start the clock on Nylander’s contract last yr and not have a spot for his to lose this yr? And Lou said Lupul may not even play next yr at the end of the season.

I had Nylander on the third line

[2014olympicgold]

I had Nylander on the third line

My eyes at 25 are failing me.

Leafs roster is going to be so tricky to guess before pre-season.

[hockeyrobot]

Very surprised about Stuart Percy. What happened with this guy?? Was I just fooled because I live in the GTA so the media was talking him up?

[Eskimo Brother]

Very surprised about Stuart Percy. What happened with this guy?? Was I just fooled because I live in the GTA so the media was talking him up?

I think there is a bit of that, and a bit of knowing that he is getting passed by some many other prospects. There are a lot coming along, most with more room to develop and younger ages.

[2014olympicgold]

I think there is a bit of that, and a bit of knowing that he is getting passed by some many other prospects. There are a lot coming along, most with more room to develop and younger ages.

Wasn’t the current regimes prospect too. I liked him, but I don’t think he made a jump any of the years since he first got NHL action. He just kind of stayed on the same level. I liked his game, and if I was another teams GM, I’d take a shot at him. At worse he becomes an AHL guy

[theIceWookie]

Anyone notice how “old” the Leafs drafted? They really wanted to get the Euro/Russia players so they can control them, and seemed like they wanted players able to play now with the Marlies/leafs. Also big, they wanted big guys.

The Leafs definitely went heavy on second and third time eligible players, but something that really isn't being reported is that they were hardly the only team to do this. They were the team that did it the heaviest but all but two teams in the League didn't choose a second or third time eligible player.

In fact 50 players were drafted who were second or third time eligible. That's 23.7 percent of the entire 211 pick draft. Basically a quarter of the players drafted were second or third time players, or older players.

The only picks I like were Matthews and Grundstrom and ....The Russian at 32 I didn't know.

But at this stage in the draft does it really matter what they say/do? As long as some of them turn out to be serviceable than it's a good pick. I liked our draft better last year so I'll likely compare the drafts in a few years but until then does anyone really know?

At this point the most we can say is "didn't expect that. Interesting strategy, I don't totally like it but we'll wait and see". Hard to really judge it yet.

I can't help but wonder if Lou's influence was the main reason this year's draft seemed so odd. Last year's draft seemed entirely run by Hunter who loves skill.
I personally think they made many mistakes in drafting size and/or grit over skill this year. They can always trade for 3rd line grinders down the road when they need them. In the meantime they should be focused on drafting skill and try to find a hidden gem with late round picks.

It might seem that way but I suspect that might be a quick emotion without exploring the picks a little more. The Leafs draft appeared to be more targeted towards players who were undervalued rather than big and heavy for the sake of going big and heavy. All the players they drafted were more picks who either were in underscouted markets (Russia), sick in previous seasons which left them undrafted and with a hard development year (Walker), or hidden behind deep teams (Nantinen). They could turn out awfully, or they could be alright. It's too early to say.

And I'd hold off on saying Lou helmed this draft. He's been very clear on saying Hunter was running things and he deferred to him.

Korshkov was the best player on the Russian U18 team, and one of the best U20 players in the KHL (which isn't easy to do in that league). He was a legit top 6 guy in the KHL which is sooo difficult to do in the KHL. And he was pretty much listed as a 2nd round choice in most lists.

Brooks demolished the WHL. Like crazy. He was older yes, but he was the 4th highest scoring player in the entire CHL. He apparently made some adjustments that led to the explosion. On a team that had a team scoring differential of -10, he was PLUS 41. That's insane.

Walker was interesting. He suffered development setbacks in his draft year due to illness. Then he went from defense to offense this year and exploded.

Chebykin was barely eligible for last draft and likely was just a case of underscouting in Russia. He led his MHL team in points

Nantinen was underutilized in London, but showed flashes when given time. He's big and I'm not a huge fan of the pick, but there's reason to risk taking him. He could see some nice growth this year with more time and he's a late round pick.

Greenway is hella raw but hella interesting. He was paired with Adam Fox at the U18's and showed nice offensive talent. He could be a huge home run pick once his skating technique is refined.

All the picks have interesting elements beyond "big" that I think people are missing.

And the 2nd round was very similar to last year. Leafs surprise everyone with their first pick (Korshkov and Dermott) but then take a higher ranked player with their second pick (Bracco and Grundstrom)

[The Black Panther]

Phenominal post IceWookie. Appreciate the info.

Brett Connolly. What do you think of a cheaper add for the Leafs? For a rebuilding team might be a nice add and they can give him a good opportunity to see if hes still the real deal.

[2014olympicgold]

The only player I really wished they had signed before Polak was Wisnewski. He’s a solid talent that had injury issues the last yr+. Him on a 1yr/2yr could have been very interesting, plus a RHS.

Martin I get, Polak….not so much but at 1yr 2.25mill, and the familiarity with him and his work ethic, don’t mind the signing.

The team is stacked with “what ifs” at this point, they just need ice time to see who’s a “gonna be good” or a “he could have been good”.

[theIceWookie]

The only player I really wished they had signed before Polak was Wisnewski. He’s a solid talent that had injury issues the last yr+. Him on a 1yr/2yr could have been very interesting, plus a RHS.

Martin I get, Polak….not so much but at 1yr 2.25mill, and the familiarity with him and his work ethic, don’t mind the signing.

The team is stacked with “what ifs” at this point, they just need ice time to see who’s a “gonna be good” or a “he could have been good”.

Yeah I'm with you. I would have preferred Wisniweski miles ahead of Polak. If the intention of signing Polak was to bring in a guy to push the kids, who could be a leader and then potentially be traded, I don't really see why Wisniewski couldn't have done the job better.

[2014olympicgold]

Yeah I'm with you. I would have preferred Wisniweski miles ahead of Polak. If the intention of signing Polak was to bring in a guy to push the kids, who could be a leader and then potentially be traded, I don't really see why Wisniewski couldn't have done the job better.

My guess is they liked Polak’s size:
6’0” 237lbs 30yrs old
Wiz:
5’11” 203lbs 32yrs old

Does depending on the contract tho, but I bet Wiz will be around the same as Polak.