The Toronto Maple Leafs had six selections at the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver. Second-rounder Nick Robertson, third-round pick Mikko Kokkonen, fourth rounders Mikhail Abramov and Nick Abruzzese, fifth-round pick Michael Koster and seventh-rounder Kalle Loponen are considered highly skilled, but the club’s emphasis on hockey IQ and skating ability over size and strength showed once again, as every pick was under six feet tall and 200 lbs.
Kyle Dubas and his amateur scouting staff clearly favor a philosophy focused on skill and hockey sense, which first became apparent after taking over as GM a month before the 2018 NHL Draft and after Mark Hunter left the organization.
The 2018 group of Rasmus Sandin, Sean Durzi (now with the LA Kings), Semyon Der-Argushintsev and Mac Hollowell thus far look like a pretty successful crop, but in the wake of the Leafs loss to Boston and the organization’s obvious physical deficiencies, it appears that Dubas does not believe that he has to use the draft to make his club more multifaceted to succeed.
Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley gave an evaluation of the club’s half dozen new prospects after Day 2 of the draft at Rogers Arena on Saturday.
“(Robertson) is a highly skilled type of player that we are looking for moving forward. He’s a highly motivated young man. Very, very serious.” Lilley said. “We met with him on several occasions and did the background. He’s driven. That’s part of what we like about him, aside from the skill and hockey sense, this kid lives, breathes and eats hockey. That’s all he does.”
Kokkonen, selected in the third round (84th overall), is considered an intelligent player and played a full season in the Finnish SM-Liiga as an 18-year-old, but has room to grow in his game.
"(Kokkonen is) very smart (and a) good defender. (He) can still improve his footspeed, but like a lot of these kids, they all have work to do.” Lilley said.
Abramov was chosen 114th overall and had 54 points(16 goals, 38 assists) in his first season in North America with the Victoriaville Tigres, but the smallish Russian is just 154 lbs. and will have to get much stronger to have a chance at a professional career.
Abruzzese, Toronto’s second fourth-rounder, is a 20-year-old overager who led the USHL in scoring with 80 points and is headed to Harvard next season, but Lilley indicated that his physical maturity was more consistent with a younger player.
“(Abruzzese is) under-developed for a ’99. When you look at him, you’d think he is an ’01. He’s an older kid, but he still has room to grow and mature physically.” Lilley said. “(He’s) an intelligent human being and hockey player.”
The Leafs selected Koster in the fifth round, who split time between high school and Tri-City of the USHL and is headed to the University of Minnesota this fall.
“Michael had a great Ivan Hlinka in the summer. He went head-to-head with a lot of the top players against Canada and Europe.” Lilley said. “(Koster is) very smart player who moves the puck well. Highly skilled. Just the type of player we were looking for. We were very excited to get him where he was.”
Toronto went defense again for their final pick in the seventh round, selecting Loponen 204th overall, who played mostly for second-division Hermes Kokkola and in international tournaments for Finland last season.
“Ari Vuori, our European scout, really liked him in the late rounds.” Lilley said. (Loponen)moves the puck well. He can skate. He is just another guy who is just going to get physically stronger. It’s probably his biggest hurdle right now.”
The ability of these players to improve their strength and conditioning in the next couple years will be critical to their futures, but the Leafs will also have to mix in players with other skill sets to prevent from being one-dimensional.
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