As I woke up today I had a sudden surge of energy go through my body knowing that the Stanley Cup Finals begin tonight. Perhaps the surge was from Tampa Bay Lightning as I’ve been cheering for them in the East in this 2015 Playoffs; nothing to do with their match-ups of course. Detroit, Montreal and New York are all very strong teams and rivals of my beloved Leafs. Stamkos has taken his game to another level in this year’s Playoff run, a complete and total playoff warrior.
Chicago has the players, the experience, the coaching and the leadership to win the cup, I would bet on Chicago to win in seven games if I had to pick. These teams are both loaded up front, but I feel in the overall picture the Blackhawks have an all-round better defensive core, and that alone gives them the edge. Best of luck to both teams and their fans, I wish it was Toronto’s blue and white on the ice.
Just four wins away from the end of this hockey season and the Leafs overhaul begins. I’ve been a fan of Toronto my whole life and with Shanahan and Babcock guiding the ship I’ve never felt so reassured we are finally going to get back on track and set sail to the promise land. This year’s draft is huge for the Leafs with two first round picks and the possibility of selling off some players for picks or prospects. With Hunter and Dubas discussing possible players to draft and Shanahan and Babcock working together making a winning game plan, the time has finally come.
Everyone is stressing themselves out over who the Leafs take with their fourth pick, relax. Remember, a big part of who is selected is whose left out of Marner, Strome and Hanifin. Regardless as to whomever the Leafs choose, they will be filling a much needed void on the roster going forward. All eyes should be on who the Leafs draft with their 24th pick in the first round. Hunter and Dubas have likely mentioned a few front runners to Shanahan.
My hopes are they have a few other players in-between they have looked at in case they fall down in rank at the draft, or if they are able to make a trade and acquire another first round pick. Pending who the Maple Leafs draft with their first pick, whether it be a forward or defenseman, I’m hoping we can pick the other with our 24th pick. This will stock both ends of the prospects pool. At this stage in a rebuild, everything is needed; just pick the right players.
When looking at the players projected to go in the first round there are many quality players on both the offensive and defensive side of the puck. A few who stand out to me that I’d like to see the Leafs go after include:
Travis Konecny
The Ottawa 67’s Captain is a quality scoring forward who plays an intense game at center or wing. The determination in his game is perfect for a rebuilding team like the Leafs. He has an excellent 200 foot game and has no issues putting up a point a game or better thus far in his OHL career. If the Leafs can acquire another pick in the 10-15 range or trade up their Nashville pick, the London native could be a good pick.
Jeremy Roy
It seems some of the best NHL defensemen these days are those that possess the quality of a two-way defenseman. That is exactly who Roy is, a player with a high hockey intelligence who plays a very mature game and continuously makes the right decision with the puck. Jeremy plays well in all zones of the ice and does well controlling the flow of the game with his quick and smart decision making. There is a chance that he could be available at the 24th pick, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him picked earlier either.
Yevgeni Svechnikov
With Hunter calling the shots in terms of who the Leafs draft, it makes it a long shot for drafting a Russian player…but, if they were to consider taking Svechnikov with their 24th pick, he would be a steal if he fell that far down. Yevgeni has absolutely phenomenal stick handling skills, and a shot to go with them; a deadly combo together. His skating is smooth and his frame is large, already weighing in at 205 pounds and six foot three. Could this be the elite-level forward the Leafs draft if they were to take Hanifin with their number four pick?
Ryan Pilon
Another high quality two-way defenseman that could be available would be Ryan, who much like Konecny has the extreme work ethic and determination to win and improve his game in all aspects. Pilon has an accurate shot that gets off quick, one of those that seem to have eyes for the net when it’s released off his stick. Another player who makes the right decisions on the ice in both the offensive and defensive zones; something I feel will be very beneficial for the Leafs in their rebuilding process.
Other players who I’m very high on and are in the top fifteen ranks include Ivan Provorov, Pavel Zacha and Matthew Barzal. If there were any big trades to go down at the draft, I would love to see any of these players selected as I feel they will all be impact NHL players in the near future.
As of now the Leafs have no second round pick, so they won’t have another pick until the third round at 65. Hopefully throughout the next few years of drafting we have all our picks and some. Enough of this nonsense trading picks, unless of course it’s for a quality young prospect that will benefit the team in the long run.
Something to note, and hopefully something the Leafs can capitalize on, the Philadelphia Flyers having so many draft picks in this year’s 2015 Draft. They have the 7th, 29th or 30th, 60th or 61st, 70th, 90th or 91st, 98th, 99th, 128th, 158th and 188th picks. Ten draft picks is huge, perhaps Toronto could look at trading them a player or prospect and moving up with one of our picks.
At this point, it’s all about adding as many picks as possible and stock piling as many quality prospects in all positions. The Leafs need everything as I’ve stated more than once, I mean it. Hopefully the organization are as gung-ho about this rebuild as I am, and they will be looking at all options or ways to get more first round picks in this extremely deep draft.
Stick to the game plan of drafting well, developing with patience and having Babcock and his coaching staff prepare these young men as best as possible for the future.
Enjoy the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight!!
Thanks for reading.