Day two of the NHL Draft in Vancouver has started with a bang for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as they have moved the final year of Patrick Marleau's three-year deal but at a hefty price. Toronto has sent their 2020 first round pick(conditional) and 2020 seventh round pick along with the 39-year-old winger to the Carolina Hurricanes for their sixth-round pick in 2020.
Details of the conditions have not been revealed as of yet, but it is likely that it includes lottery-protection in case the Leafs do not make the playoffs next season or it going down to a lower pick based on where Toronto finishes next season.
It is expected that Carolina will buyout Marleau's $6.25 Million deal and allow him to return back to San Jose to finish out his career.
The Leafs needed to alleviate their cap crunch to re-sign restricted free agents Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson and give them some flexibility if another club attempts to sign any of them to an offer sheet. With the club a likely playoff team next season, the first rounder could end up in the 20's, but GM Kyle Dubas has deviated from the club's philosophy for most of the last decade, trading their 2019 first rounder to get Jake Muzzin last January and now possibly their top pick in 2020.
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The Leafs finally made their first selection in the 2019 NHL Draft at #53, picking forward Nicholas Robertson of the OHL's Peterborough Petes. The 17-year-old California native (born on September 11, 2001) moved from the Golden State to Michigan and then to the Toronto area to play in the GTHL.
The 5'9" 175 lb. forward is highly skilled, with good speed that is utilized as both ends of the ice and scored over a point per game (27 goals, 28 assists) in 54 games for the Petes. Robertson is a teammate of Leafs 2018 draft pick Semyon Der-Argushintsev and his brother Jason was selected a second-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2017.
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In the third round (84th overall), Toronto selected Finnish blueliner Mikko Kokkonen. The 18-year-old is just under 6'0", 200 lb. and is described as a solid all-around prospect, but is not expected to be a big point producer at any level.
The Leafs had two fourth-round picks, the first at #114 was forward Mikhail Abramov, a smallish Russian who came to North America last season and scored 54 points for the QMJHL's Victoriaville Tigres.
The last pick of the 4th round was 20-year-old overager Nick Abruzzese, who had 80 points for the USHL's Chicago Steel and will play for Harvard next season.
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In the fifth round, Toronto continued the trend of picking smaller players with the selection of defenseman Mike Koster, who played high school hockey in Minnesota, a 15-game stint in the USHL and is heading to the University of Minnesota next season.
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