Draft day from Chicago is upon us. Our boys in blue have the 17th overall pick and there doesn't seem to be any shortage of opinion as to what the Leafs are going to do with it. There have been several individual breakdowns of the various skill sets of players who might be available, so I won't get too deep into that. What I will do is discuss a few potential options, as well as what it might mean to the Leafs moving forward.
Option 1: The Leafs take a defenseman.
The names being bandied about in the 17th overall range include Cal Foote, Nicolas Hague, Erik Brannstrom and - for some bizarre reason - Timothy Liljegren. Obviously if he is left on the board at #17, the Leafs would be idiots to pass on Liljegren, but I think it highly unlikely he will still be there. Also, in my opinion, a guy like Hague is not the type of defender I'd want to see on this team. The main reason is that there have been mixed feelings about his skating. I'm aware that skating can be improved and taught, but I feel that it's a quality far too important to this team's identity to even risk it. Foote seems like a pretty solid pick. Possessing a decent all-around game and a right-handed shot, he may be just what the doctor ordered for this club in the 17 hole. The curious case, for me, is Brannstrom. I feel like a major reason he is even around at 17 is his lack of size. However, he has a pretty high skill level and great skating. His one caveat, as far as the Leafs may or may not be concerned, is that he is a left-handed shot. That shouldn't stop the Leafs from taking him if he is still around at #17 though.
Option 2: The Leafs take a forward.
The adage goes: "Take the best player available, regardless of need". I definitely agree with this sentiment (though I feel like a guy like Brannstrom could be both). That said, the forward crop that will be available when the Leafs take the podium present some intriguing options. Eeli Tolvanen is a scoring winger that gets praised on his ability to bury the puck. Scoring is always going to be a desirable quality in a player but, on the other hand, the Leafs have a ton of it - and even more in the pipeline (looking at you Jeremy Bracco). Klim Kostin would appear to have all the tools, but has caused a bit of a stir with his antics: refusing to report to his junior team after he was drafted 1st overall in the 2016 CHL draft. The Leafs may have enough Russian presence in the system to mitigate any of those types of shenanigans, and have shown they are not afraid to take players from Russia (Korshkov being a recent 'off the radar' example). One prominent draft predictor had the Leafs taking Kristian Vesalainen from Sweden. I like the scouting reports on him, as they seem to be mostly positive. Still, for my money, another high end winger in the system doesn't seem to make sense. It will depend on who else is available, no question.
Option 3: The Leafs trade down.
Who can forget the 2015 draft, where the Leafs took Marner 4th overall, then proceeded to parlay Nashville's 1st rounder into 3 players currently in their system: Travis Dermott - widely considered the closest prospect to full-time NHL duties, the aforementioned Jeremy Bracco - Perhaps the most skilled forward in the pipeline who is not on the team (with the departure of Leipsic and likely main roster status of Kapanen) and Martins Dzierkals, who has yet to really make an impact (hey, like Meat Loaf said, 2 out of 3 ain't bad!). All told, I think the Leafs did pretty well with that and we could see them attempt to recreate some of that magic this draft day. Who knows, maybe they end up making the next Biggs-for-Gibson-&-Rakell quality of trade (as long as we are Anaheim in that scenario this time around). I don't really feel like they will go this route, but if they do, I'd be excited to see who they would turn the pick into.
Option 4: The Leafs trade up.
This option seems highly unlikely to me, but it's worth exploring. First off, I don't like to think of what assets we'd have to give to move up into the top 5 (where the impact players are), and I don't think the talent level is all that different from 6-17 anyway. I suppose if a Liljegren or Valimaki are kickin around in the 12-15 spot, it could be worth a pick or two to get up there and take them, but that kind of risk isn't always worth the reward. Besides, I don't know that the Leafs trading up has ever really worked out (see previous Option). It just evokes bad memories reminiscient of days gone by, with incompetent management and a poor vision for the franchise. I hope they stay away from it, especially in light of how much of a crap shoot this draft is looking to be.
Well, there you have it. Those are my 4 (mostly 3) options that I think the Leafs have. I think it's going to be an exciting day, and who knows what kinds of moves there will be on the draft floor. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and thanks for reading!
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