Looks like Lou is headed to Long Island after all

[lucafen4]

Come on folks. There are enough Leaf haters out there already... we don't need to make more by posting this stuff in a non-Leaf thread.
(This coming from a Leafs fan...)

speculation is Hunter could join Lou with the NYI in July - a review of his & Lou's draft record with Toronto is relevant to the thread

[ericdaoust]

The Leaf talk is relevant as it is tied to Hunter who is a part of this story.

[blayze]

This is a great post, thanks for doing the leg-work.

I'm far from a prospect-expert so I can't comment on the majority of the players listed below, but from what we know today, it seems like the only major value-add from Hunter was his call on Marner over Hanifin. The other decisions were no-brainers.

Obviously this is over simplistic and the full story has yet to play out, but if that's the jist of Hunter's body of work so far then I'm not too disappointed he's leaving.

Let's look back at Hunter's drafting record with the Leafs. He joined the organization in October of 2014 so his first draft was the McDavid draft.

2015
Round 1 (4) - Mitch Marner - I believe he played a big role in convincing Shanahan to take Marner over Strome or Hanifin. It is no secret Babcock was lobbying hard for Hanifin. Big points for Hunter there.
Round 2 (34) - Travis Dermott - If you guys remeber, the Leafs had a second 1st round pick but traded down to acquire more picks for Hunter to play with. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't it believed that Dermott was more of a Dubas selection rather than a Hunter selection or was it that Dubas was the main reason behind trading down to accumulate more picks? Either way, a solid pick in Dermott but full credit cannot just go to Hunter here, Dubas gets big kudos as well.
Round 2 (61) - Jeremy Bracco - Hasn't been able to crack the Leafs lineup though it is through no fault of his own. Depth has kept him at bay so far. Maybe too soon to judge this pick. Likely a trade chip for Dubas anyhow.
Round 3 (65) - Andrew Nielsen
Round 3 (68) - Martin Dzierklas
Round 4 (95) - Jesper Lindgren
Round 5 (125) - Dmytro Timashov
Round 6 (155) - Stephen Desrocher (never signed by the Leafs and was released)
Round 7 (185) - Nikita Korostelev

It'd be pretty hard to imagine any of the players selected in the 3rd round or later ever crack the Leafs roster or be a regular NHLer all together. I'm not criticizing Hunter here as it's rare that we see players draft after the 2nd round become NHL regulars.

2016
Round 1 (1) - Auston Matthews - 30 out of 30 NHL GMs would have taken Matthews over Laine.
Round 2 (31) - Yegor Korshkov - At the time of the pick there were many surprised and upset Leafs fans. I'm no scout but I haven't read anything about him that gives me confidence that we will see him in a Leafs jersey anytime soon, if at all. Some names Hunter passed up that were drafted in the 2nd round: Jordan Kyrou, Alex DeBrincat, Johanthen Dahlen, Smauel Girard, Carter Hart, Kale Clague, Taylor Raddysh.
Round 2 (57) - Carl Grundstrom - This name has many Leafs fans excited. He was taken one pick ahead of Raddysh for reference. He is expected to be a Leafs regular next season and slide right into Komarov's role. Great pick here.
Round 3 (62) - Joseph Woll - Leafs desperately needed to add some goaltending into their system and Hunter did that. Far too early to judge this pick but he addressed a need in the middle of the draft. Good idea in my opinion.
Round 3 (72) - James Greenway - Not to be confused with brother Jordan. I'd chalk this one up as a safe mid-draft selection. didn't swing for the fences, allowing the development team to do their thing with him.
Round 4 (92) - Adam Brooks - I don't get the chance to watch many Marlies games but apparently he's had a a really good year which is exactly what the Leafs organization needed as they lack depth at centre. Possibility of a good pick here.
Round 4 (101) - Keaton Middleton
Round 5 (122) - Vladimir Bobylev
Round 6 (152) - Jack Walker
Round 6 (179) - Nicolas Mattinen
Round 7 (182) - Nikolai Chebykin
No idea about any of the players after Adam Brooks. I can't say I ever remember hearing any of these names since draft day. What I do remember is Leafs fans were pretty upset that Hunter drafted for size rather than skill and speed as he did in 2015.

2017
Round 1 (17) - Timothy Liljegren - He fell in the Leafs lap. We all remember how high he was ranked at the beginning of 2017, Leafs were given a gift here.
Round 2 (59) - Eemeli Rasanen - Right shot D-man, as is Liljegren. Seems like he was trying to please coach here and stock the D cupboard.
Round 4 (110) - Ian Scott - Added to the goaltending depth as he did the previous year with Woll. Addressed a need, I like it.
Round 4 (124) - Vladislav Kara
round 5 (141) - Fedor Gordeev
Round 6 (172) - Ryan McGregor
Round 7 (203) - Ryan O'Connell
Again, haven't heard much of any of the players drafted in the 4th round or later and it is really way too early to judge those picks and is also unfair to really expect anything after the 2nd round.

I'm really not sure what point I am trying to make here. More of just an information post, judge for yourself. I appreciate the work Hunter has done for the Leafs but I'm not all up in arms about him moving on as some are (not on the forum, but on twitter). The early round picks were pretty much obvious selections so it's hard to praise him for that. Aside from the top 2 rounds, his best selection is likely going to be Grundstrom. While that is a great pick late in the 2nd round, he is likely to be a bottom 6 winger/depth player at best. And while it is too early to tell, I don't see any of Hunter's selections being absolute steals like we've seen in Connor Brown (Round 6 - 2012) and Andreas Johnsson (Round 7 - 2013). It would have been nice to keep Hunter on board but I really do think some Leafs fans are over reacting. He is replaceable.

[islefan31]

I second that.

[lucafen4]

This is a great post, thanks for doing the leg-work.

I'm far from a prospect-expert so I can't comment on the majority of the players listed below, but from what we know today, it seems like the only major value-add from Hunter was his call on Marner over Hanifin. The other decisions were no-brainers.

Obviously this is over simplistic and the full story has yet to play out, but if that's the jist of Hunter's body of work so far then I'm not too disappointed he's leaving.

Timashov, Grundstrom, Bracco, Lindgren, Woll, Greenway, Nielsen, Dzierkels, Brooks, Gordeev, Scott & Rasanen all need to be discussed as really solid picks by Hunter

[islefan31]

Yeah, that would make sense. Kovalchuk has said he wants to go to New York. But I'm not sure they could afford him. Those Ladd, Clutterbuck and Cizikas contracts are really expensive. I also think they need another top-four defenseman and a starting goalie.

Yup, D and a starting goalie are a must. scoring wasn't an issue for this team, it was keeping the puck out of their net.

[DusterDave]

Come on folks. There are enough Leaf haters out there already... we don't need to make more by posting this stuff in a non-Leaf thread.
(This coming from a Leafs fan...)

To be honest, I wasn't going to post it in this thread but I didn't think it warrented it's own thread. Sorry to those of you who it irritated and thanks to those who enjoyed it. Back to the Lou discussion I guess.

[butch]

To be honest, I wasn't going to post it in this thread but I didn't think it warrented it's own thread. Sorry to those of you who it irritated and thanks to those who enjoyed it. Back to the Lou discussion I guess.

Louuuuuuuu

[Ingolo]

Louuuuuuuu

See, this made me think of Lou Collins, all-star first baseman for the Minnesota Twins during that season they had a 12 year old manager.

On topic to the thread though, firstly DusterDave that was a fantastic reference chart. I feel like I'll be able to comb that for prospects to dangle at the Leafs homer in my pool. Really helps illustrate as well what the Leafs are losing ahead of the draft. That's a lot of experience and knowledge to have walk away. Definitely makes sense that his contract with MLSE would do something to protect that competitive edge as long as they can. Not that losing Lou won't be as or more harmful, I have just always seen Lou as more of the contract/legalese mind in that room, with Hunter as the best scout, and Dubas as the analytics guy. Together they were amazing at filling in the gaps in each other's skillsets. I'm curious to see what approach Lou and Dubas each make to building their management teams, and if they look for people similar to what they had while they were working together.

[lucafen4]

I did not know Lou's son was already in the NYI organization - Chris Lamoriello - Director of Hockey Personnel. This makes this move make 1000% more sense. Getting to work with his son one more time.. and according to Wiki - his other son, Tim is senior staff attorney for the Islanders

[Godin]

I did not know Lou's son was already in the NYI organization - Chris Lamoriello - Director of Hockey Personnel. This makes this move make 1000% more sense. Getting to work with his son one more time.. and according to Wiki - his other son, Tim is senior staff attorney for the Islanders

Aha. So his son put in a good work for him. That's how he got the job!

[lucafen4]

I was listening to the radio a few min ago... (Vancouver TSN1040...) They brought up an interesting point about Lou and contract dates/times. When Lou was introduced he had already met with Tavares. Where/when was his contract with Toronto fully severed? If he was still technically employed with the Leafs...

this would be tampering

[Username]

How would it be tampering if he was negotiating on behalf of the Islanders?

[lucafen4]

How would it be tampering if he was negotiating on behalf of the Islanders?

still employed by the Leafs

- - - Updated - - -


potentially... no one knows when contracts were officially severed

[Belexus75]

Another brilliant move by Shanny! Send Lou to Island so he can convince JT to come to the leafs! lol