“Let’s tear it down and do it right this time” seems to be the new credo of Leaf fans. Which, by the way, in their world, includes the lottery balls bouncing the right way so the drafting of Connor McDavid first overall is included in that package.
One misconception is that the Leafs lack first-round picks because in the past they have “traded them all away”. Their current NHL roster actually includes a number of those drafted in the first round by the Leafs or other NHL teams (Jonathan Bernier, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Joffrey Lupul, Peter Holland, James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel) while William Nylander, Frederik Gauthier, Tyler Biggs and Stuart Percy either toil or develop in the minors.
To “do it right” will also mean the ability to procure the odd NHL player in later rounds, the second round being obviously the best opportunity with that. An NHL all-star team can be composed of current second-round selections like P.K. Subban, Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Patrice Bergeron, James Neal, Derek Roy, Ryan O’Reilly, Tomas Tatar, Justin Abdelkader, Derek Stepan, Brandon Saad, Jason Pominville, Brock Nelson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic to name a few.
The Leafs actually have a pretty solid history of second-round pick selections in Tiger Williams, Rick Kehoe, Randy Carlyle, Joel Quenneville, Gary Leeman, Todd Gill, Daniel Marois, Tie Domi and Felix Potvin.
That seems to have evaporated since the 2004 Lockout. Nikolai Kulemin (2006) stands as the only Leaf to have a “decent” stint in the blue and white since then. In fairness, some second-round selections were traded. One for Vesa Toskala (along with a first-round pick to San Jose) and one for Phil Kessel (along with two first-round picks to Boston).
One real unfortunate loss was the disconnect between coach Paul Maurice and general manager John Ferguson at the end of the 2006-2007 season. Ferguson decided that the return of Yanic Perreault and his faceoff acumen was just what the Leafs needed for their playoff run. A few months earlier Perreault had actually been placed on waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes but at the trade deadline it was a second-round pick in 2008 that had to be included in the compensation. Maurice really had no use for Perreault and used him sparingly as the Leafs fell short of the playoffs. Phoenix later traded that pick to the Nashville Predators and they used it to select Roman Josi in 2008.
The brief tenure of Cliff Fletcher saw him trade for a second-round pick in 2008. He used that to draft Jimmy Hayes who now is a top scorer for an NHL team. Only problem is that team is Florida. For whatever reason, Brian Burke was not able to sign Hayes to a contract and traded him to Chicago in 2010 and he was later traded to Florida. A great pick, but one who never wore the blue and white.
The return for Jimmy Hayes was a second-round pick which the Leafs used to select Brad Ross in 2010. He joins a group of other second-round Leaf picks that are playing for the Marlies or other AHL teams after being traded. Ross (2010), Matthew Finn (2012), Kenny Ryan (2009) and Jesse Blacker (2009) are the recent second-round picks along with Hayes. Ryan and Blacker have moved on to other NHL teams. The jury is still out on Ross and Finn. A 2003 second-round pick named John Doherty never even made it as high as the AHL in his very brief pro hockey career.
Richard Panik was a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning (2009) and has been mostly a positive since the Leafs claimed him on waivers earlier this season.
As the Edmonton Oilers have discovered, the tear down is easy but the rebuild not so much. Keeping draft choices appears to be the mantra of the current Leaf management. Grabbing the odd legitimate NHL player or two beyond the first-round is imperative.
It would be great if the Leafs were able to draft a defenceman like the next P.K. Subban or Shea Weber or Duncan Keith, or at least the next Todd Gill!
