First and foremost, I personally can’t wait for this regular season to be over for my beloved Maple Leafs. It’s been nothing but an embarrassment for us true fans as of late. When you are upset that your team is scoring goals and winning games, it says something…and it doesn’t say I’m a bad fan, because I’m not. Fed up with this crap is what I am…It’s time to turn this ship around and not only get back on track, but get back to being a contending team like the Toronto Maple Leafs should be. What better way to do it than to offload the core players from this mess of a team. Reboot this roster and pick ourselves a superb player in the upcoming 2015 draft with our top 5 pick.
The key to me is picking the right player. Easier said than done perhaps? I disagree; this is a no brainer scenario for the Leafs. What does every team have that wins the Stanley Cup? What have the Maple Leafs been looking for since Sundin left Toronto? A centerman. Don’t give me any of this “we need to pick the best player” crap, because that’s all it is. If the Leafs don’t use their top 5 pick on a future franchise center than we will forever be spiraling downwards…as much fun as that has been for everyone I think it’s time to ‘wind her back up’. Of course we are all hoping Connor McDavid will land on our laps with our 9.5% winning the lottery (it looks as of now). Because that there is the definition of elite franchise center who could get the ball rolling in terms of the rebuild.
There are other options outside of McDavid and or Eichel who will be excellent NHL players and play the center position. Look no further than Dylan Strome out of Erie, where of course McDavid plays now and the Maple Leafs prospect Connor Brown played before he was drafted. Strome has a left handed shot and is a bit over six feet in height, and weighs 185-190 pounds. This season Dylan Strome has played 68 games and has put the puck in the net 45 times and added in 84 assists, totally 129 points. In the playoffs, in 5 games played he has 4 goals and 4 assists. Not only that, but he is a Mississauga born, and would be a hometown favorite. This kid is the real deal, I really hope the Leafs are able to draft him with their pick if they don’t land McDavid.
Another center option for the Leafs in this draft is Mitchell Marner who plays for the London Knights. Don’t think for a second that his talent ceiling is not high, because it’s enormous…especially for this new age NHL hockey where speed and talent are keys to success. Marner has done well in London, scoring 44 goals, with 82 assists in just 63 games. Playoff bound this season he has 8 goals and 7 assists in just 6 games. Needless to say; he can produce with the best of them. With McDavid and Eichel being picked as the top two, in no exact order Strome, Marner and Hanifin will likely be the next three players picked in the draft. So there are four extremely high ranked centers in the top 5 players of the draft; hopefully we are able to land one of them and finally get some high quality center man talent in the pipe line. One that we can hope will eventually become a number one stud and lead this team to the promise land.
Noah Hanifin is the highest ranked defensemen in this year’s draft; and shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone. Accept the Leafs…The only way I want to see this elite talent in the blue and white is if someone outside of the bottom five wins the lottery at the draft; which would push the Leafs to picking fifth overall. The reason for this is simple, the Maple Leafs are in absolute dire need of getting a future center. I cannot hammer this point home enough; we have Morgan Rielly our future top pairing defenseman. The Predators traded us their first round pick, and there will be a lot of quality players the Leafs could pick with their pick, which includes a defenseman.
The bottom line is, the prospect cupboard is weak in terms of offense, but at least has a few defensive players in who may be able to make the jump to the big club within the next year or two. There is no need to rush anyone as this team is obviously in full rebuild mode (scorched earth). Patience is important, but so is drafting a top notch center with a high end pick. In my opinion any of those centers from McDavid to Marner would be top 3 picks in just about any draft I can remember. There are some serious high end talent players in this year’s draft and none better to acquire the game changing number one that we have been hunting for. This is the year, not next year, not through the free agency…through this year’s draft.
Just to back up my point about defensemen being available with our Nashville pick in the 20-30 range here are a few players worth mentioning. You can research who you’d like to see what kind of impact they would or could have with the team in the future.
Thomas Chabot – Saint John - QMJHL
Jakub Zboril – Saint John – QMJHL
Carlo Brandon – Tri-City – WHL
Oliver Kylington – Farjestad – SweE
Jacob Larsson – Frolunda – SweJE
Jeremy Roy – Sherbrooke – QMJHL
Garbiel Carlsson – Linkoping - SweJE
At the end of the day, let’s just hope the lottery balls go our way and McDavid comes home to start what we have all been waiting for, a Maple Leafs Dynasty.
One can dream.
Thanks for reading.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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