We have assets aside from Kessel and Phaneuf that can be packaged together with the 24th pick to get us into the teens of the draft IMO. Holland, Kadri, Gardiner, Nylander and Rielly are the Leafs' most valuable trading chips, but upon further inspection, Leafs management has a difficult choice in front of them having hired Babcock.
The ShanaGroup can talk the talk about wanting to rebuild the right way, but the MO from day 1 has always been improving the team. And hiring Babcock might just be the glimmer of hope for the team and its long-term health. Could playing under Babcock improve the trade value of our most valuable players? I'm one of the guys that doesn't expect a significant trade this draft but instead expects movement come next year's trade deadline because you see... the stage is set for next year. We will have our historic red-hot starts and when you add to that lowered expectations, a better coaching system, and the further maturation of our young-guns.... our guys will be performing at their peaks.
Maybe we'll see a Phaneuf for White+Stajan+pieces kind of trade to try to make the playoffs. Maybe we'll be able to trade a guy like Lupul for a young player or picks. But most likely, we'll be trying to sneak our way into the top of the 2016 draft.
Which leads to another question: assuming another bottom-5 finish, how do the current players compare to the ones that will be available next year? It's hard to determine the BPA between Marner, Hanifin and Strome currently but could a guy like Brown, Day or Chychrun from the 2016 draft be a sort of manner to not only get BPA but also fulfill positional-based needs?
Assuming no movement:
4th: Hanifin, Marner or Zacha
24th: too hard to determine. Draft a faller or one of Guryanov, Bracco, Boeser, Sprong, Kylington or Eriksson-Ek.
High on Zacha, Kylington and Bracco due to boom-bust and team philosophy of drafting skill-first. We need to move the 24th pick up XD
I think I speak for everyone when I say that I really hope you are wrong. New management group. Let's not assume they will make the same mistakes that the previous GM's made. And besides, the draft involves some luck, particularly after the top couple of picks. The Leafs just haven't been particularly lucky. Not to mention they have mishandled the development of prospects over the years. But things will hopefully be different moving forward.
