Until Toronto Maple Leafs Team President Brendan Shanahan and GM Lou Lamoriello take to the stage in Buffalo on June 24th and announce the name of Auston Matthews as the first overall selection, there will continue to be speculation about the Leafs trading the top pick for a boatload of draft picks and prospects.
In spite of many trying to make the case for Arizona trading half their franchise to select the Scottsdale, AZ native or that Toronto could take Finnish winger Patrik Laine instead, there is little chance that either will happen.
"(Matthews has) elite hockey sense. Big body. Elite drive train. Smart guy. Comes from a good family. He's a pretty special player." Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said about the presumptive top pick to
TSN's Darren Dreger at the World Championships in St. Petersburg.
An option that is more likely for Lamoriello and Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter is for the Leafs to take advantage of having 20 picks in the next two drafts and seven second rounders over the next three seasons and package of few of those picks to move up into the middle of the first round if Hunter has targeted a particular player.
Some believe it is Toronto's organizational philosophy to trade down and accumulate more draft choices, as they did in 2015 by trading down and then out of the first round for an extra second and third(Jeremy Bracco and Martins Dzierkals), but the club's prospect depth and stockpile of future assets have changed significantly in 12 months and that gives the Leafs more options.
The first round pick obtained from Pittsburgh in the Phil Kessel deal will be slotted from 27th to 30th. If Hunter has designs on one of the six top defensemen, it may be out of reach to move up into the top 10 of the first round to get a Olli Juolevi, Jakob Chychrun or Mikhail Sergachev, but offering packaging the Pens 1st and a couple addition picks could get Toronto into the middle of the first to select Jake Bean, Charlie McAvoy or Dante Fabbro.
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Listen to my appearance on Off The Post with Russ Cohen and Anthony Mingioni, as we discuss what the Leafs will do after taking Auston Matthews at the 2016 NHL Draft.
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