With a night off before the conclusion of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Toronto Marlies off until Thursday, Maple Leafs fans are likely thinking about the NHL Draft Lottery on Saturday night and the chances of selecting Auston Matthews, but the benefit of finishing 30th overall extends even if the Leafs miss out on the 18-year-old center.
Toronto has a 52.5% chance of picking first (20%), second (17.5%) or third (15%) and the remaining 47.5% of picking fourth, which guarantees that GM Lou Lamoriello and the Leafs scouting department will get either Matthews, Finnish wingers Patrik Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi or American winger Matthew Tkachuk.
The prospect of missing out on Matthews is not as dire as some are saying, especially with the other three forwards showing their potential in recent months.
Laine tied Matthews for the goal scoring lead and won a Gold Medal for Finland at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Helsinki and won the Jari Kurri Trophy (the Finnish league’s Conn Smythe Trophy) on Tuesday, as the 18-year-old scored nine goals to lead Tappara to a SM-Liiga title.
More physicality and a big shot moved Laine ahead of Puljujarvi on the final NHL Central Scouting rankings, but the 17-year-old displayed some impressive skills at the recent World Under-18 Championship in Grand Forks, ND.
Puljujarvi led the World Junior Tournament with 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists), scored an empty net insurance goal in a win over Team USA on Saturday and a hat trick in the championship game against Sweden.
Tkachuk lost the top ranking among North American skaters to Cape Breton’s Pierre-Luc Dubois in the final Central Scouting ranking, but had an excellent World Junior (tying Matthews with 11 points to lead Team USA), a 107-point rookie campaign with the London Knights and is second to Leafs top pick Mitch Marner in OHL playoff scoring with 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists).
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Listen to the "The Convo" with myself CTV's Norman James and Brent Lale, as we talk about the NHL Draft Lottery, the Marlies, London vs Erie and Norman interviews Matthew Tkachuk.
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