Long shot poll

[Fogelhund]

Pretty easily I go with #3 and #5...

Lafreneire might be a consensus #1 OA this year, but I don't think he's at the level of a McDavid, Matthews etc...

Stutzle would be a LW with us, and while not likely going to be as dynamic as Laf, he still projects to be a very good player... and then you'd likely get Jamie Drysdale, a RHD who has the chance to be a #1D.

This team would be set for a VERY long time with such depth, and the lineup would fit under the cap... while adding a $4 mil D, such as a Manson/Tanev level guy..

You draft a Laf... and chances are you need to move a Marner/Nylander out, for a more dynamic RHD..

On Drysdale...

Ben Fraser and Dayton Reimer - The Hockey Writers - May 11th: "Jamie Drysdale’s skating ability is nothing short of elite. His agility and balance are incredible to watch, and he can instantly take over the game using this ability. Even more impressive is his hockey IQ. He is one of the most intelligent defensemen I have seen in years."

NHL Central Scouting analysis - NHL.com - Apr. 3rd: "Jamie is an excellent skater who can drive the play and push the pace from the back end. He's an excellent transition player, can make tape-to-tape passes on the fly and presents a high-end offensive game and playmaking ability that make him dangerous every time he touches the puck."

Sam Cosentino - Sportsnet - Feb. 5th: "His consistency playing as a top-notch player on a nightly basis has improved. He remains a mistake-free, two-way defender with world-class skating ability."

Tony Ferrari - Dobber Prospects - Jan. 29th: "Drysdale is an elite skater is just about every sense. He is mesmerizing as he patrols the offensive zone at times. His ability to walk the blueline, stop-and-start laterally and then make a beeline towards the slot, all with the puck, is impressive."

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Laf would be a dynamic guy, and fun to watch... but we'd still need to make a pretty big move to fix our D long-term... You get Byfield/Stutzle and Drysdale, and really this is a team without many holes.

Now... the risk in this, is that Drysdale goes at #4, and then you have two choices, Raymond/Rossi...... To me, the attractive portion of this trade, is getting a top forward AND a top RHD. You could agree to this trade in principle with Ottawa, but wait to see how the draft goes.... if Drysdale is available at #5, and you are happy with who Ottawa picks at #3, then maybe you pull the plug and do the trade.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Keep in mind the draft lotto is a new format, and a team like the Leafs winning the lotto would be somewhat unprecedented

Those teams that win 1st OA have a lot of holes to fill, typically key cornerstone pieces .. The Leafs have those already in place. One more would be great, but you would have to wonder if having to very good players (a step down) would be best. Especially if one can be a top end defensemen.

It's an interesting question. I'm slightly leaning towards 3rd + 5th OA .. But it's close.

Even if the Leafs won the 1st overall pick and traded it to Ottawa for the 3rd overall, 5th overall and Tkachuk or Chabot in a hypothetical trade. If Lafreniere becomes an amazing player and let's say has a great rookie season like we saw with Auston Matthews, Toronto will be known as the team who traded away the 1st overall pick in 2020 and didn't select Lafreniere.

Some might compare it to when they traded away the 3rd overall pick in 1991 that became Scott Scott Niedermayer or the 4th overall pick in 1997 that became Roberto Luongo.

 

[Dekes For Days]

You take Lafreniere.

 

[kb]

You take Lafreniere.

99 times out of 100 I wouldn't even think twice. Pick Laf and forget the noise.

But coming out with Byfield/Stutzle and Drysdale is tempting because it possibly solves 2 roster issues long term.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Even if the Leafs won the 1st overall pick and traded it to Ottawa for the 3rd overall, 5th overall and Tkachuk or Chabot in a hypothetical trade. If Lafreniere becomes an amazing player and let's say has a great rookie season like we saw with Auston Matthews, Toronto will be known as the team who traded away the 1st overall pick in 2020 and didn't select Lafreniere.

Some might compare it to when they traded away the 3rd overall pick in 1991 that became Scott Scott Niedermayer or the 4th overall pick in 1997 that became Roberto Luongo.

Oh without a doubt it has good reasons to blow up in your face if you deal Laf .. But that's where I'd trust our scouting and player development.

 

[Dekes For Days]

99 times out of 100 I wouldn't even think twice. Pick Laf and forget the noise.
But coming out with Byfield/Stutzle and Drysdale is tempting because it possibly solves 2 roster issues long term.

But you're entering a lot more risk into it, and defense prospects are unpredictable and take time to develop. Lafreniere is a slam dunk. We're not exactly strong on LW either. Also, I think a deal like this would impose unnecessary pressure/controversy on the involved pieces in a market like this.

Lafreniere - Matthews - Marner could legitimately be the best line in hockey, and we'd still have a high quality 1st line behind that.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Oh without a doubt it has good reasons to blow up in your face if you deal Laf .. But that's where I'd trust our scouting and player development.

Historically when it comes to the Leafs trading away top 5 picks it has blown up in their face. Plus another trade I didn't mention was giving up the 2nd overall pick in 2010 that became Tyler Seguin, even though as a player for Toronto Phil Kessel was great.

 

[baton elevated]

Trade the pick to CBJ for Seth Jones and either their 1st pick or good prospect. You get the elite right Dman that is young and able to grow with current youth on the team. Everything would be in place.

 

[as Pure as Evil]

if this is the case i think you would draft with 3 and look for someone that wants to move up to 5 . and hopefully slot in a spot to take one of the defenders a faller or the russian goalie while getting another asset or 2 depending

 

[xxOCZMSxx]

Trade the pick to CBJ for Seth Jones and either their 1st pick or good prospect. You get the elite right Dman that is young and able to grow with current youth on the team. Everything would be in place.

I can’t think of a player that’s more unavailable than Seth Jones. Why would Columbus do this?

 

[baton elevated]

I can’t think of a player that’s more unavailable than Seth Jones. Why would Columbus do this?

Multitude of reasons. CBJ get the prestige young player they can build a franchise with. Is younger than Jones. Maybe Jones is tired of losing and wants out etc etc. It's not as difficult a tarde to make as you think. CBJ is not in a position to win in some time (IMO). They would be wasting Jones while the team is developing.

 

[Buds17]

Historically when it comes to the Leafs trading away top 5 picks it has blown up in their face. Plus another trade I didn't mention was giving up the 2nd overall pick in 2010 that became Tyler Seguin, even though as a player for Toronto Phil Kessel was great.

In the previous instances mentioned where the Leafs traded away those top five picks, they were non-playoff teams (or were coming off of a non-playoff finish for the Kessel trade). The draft lottery will also exaggerate the eventual winner's finish since the team with the worst record did not retain the pick in this case. The Leafs were trending to be a playoff team under the traditional model too.

I wouldn't move the 1st overall because the trade could backfire on the Leafs significantly down the road. The present day Leafs seem to be better equipped to do so compared to the historical examples though, at least IMO.

 

[Dekes For Days]

I can’t think of a player that’s more unavailable than Seth Jones. Why would Columbus do this?

7+ years of Lafreniere, including 3 at ELC price, is worth more than Jones for 2 years. Leafs would be stupid to make that trade.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

But you're entering a lot more risk into it, and defense prospects are unpredictable and take time to develop. Lafreniere is a slam dunk. We're not exactly strong on LW either. Also, I think a deal like this would impose unnecessary pressure/controversy on the involved pieces in a market like this.

Lafreniere - Matthews - Marner could legitimately be the best line in hockey, and we'd still have a high quality 1st line behind that.

Robertson/Matthews/ Marner could be our top line next year if Robertson clicks.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Robertson/Matthews/ Marner could be our top line next year if Robertson clicks.

That could eventually be a dominant line, though while I think he'll make the team, I doubt Robertson is given that type of responsibility as an undersized 19-year old. Also, I'm super high on Robertson, but Lafreniere is on track to be a higher caliber player.

 

[MagicalRazor]

#3 and #5 all day long this draft is so deep. Lafier is amazing but the chance to aquire a high 2 high end D that can potentially be numbers 1# is exactly what we need. I love our forward core we just need to strengthen our back end

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

3 and 5 easily for me. Laf will be imo a slightly better player than marner. He will be an elite talent but wont be the clear cut best winger in the game. He will come right away to the NHL and take a huge contract like our other forwards immediately once an RFA.

Getting Byfield+Drsydale sets us for 5 years from now. Worst case situation as a leaf fan. Matthews walks as a UFA to zona and rielly walks as UFA to Nucks. We would have a guy who should be as good as JT (ppg center) to step up and take over those minutes in the case 34 leaves. Drysdale is RHD and would answer all our questions about our defense. I love rielly but think drysdale has a higher ceiling than him with his higher defensive IQ. Having these two can set us up to contend for 10+ years. Laf would result in extremely difficult decisions needing to be made and in the mentioned worst case scenario he would not be able to take over Matthews spot and be our franchise 1C (not that byfield will be as good as 34 but he will be a center who has size and ability to handle tough matchups while giving ppg production hopefully).

Rielly grew up a Leafs fan, pretty sure he's not leaving unless its for money.

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

Scenario... The leafs win first overall. Dorian calls and offers #3 and #5 for it. What do you do?

Take 3 and 5, draft Drysdale, and say f*ck it at 5 and take Askarov

 

[Wafflewhipper]

That could eventually be a dominant line, though while I think he'll make the team, I doubt Robertson is given that type of responsibility as an undersized 19-year old. Also, I'm super high on Robertson, but Lafreniere is on track to be a higher caliber player.

Robertson is 1 month older than Lafrenier when comparing development. We might have the better scorer this year but also that trend could follow them in to the Nhl because of Robertsons shot. Lafrenier is a awesome talent in a complete way. Still like our boy Robertson’s chances of scoring in the Nhl with regularity

 

[67Leafs67]

To me it seems a no brainer to take 3rd & 5th overall. The average value of a 1st overall pick is about 58.5% as much as the average combined value of 3rd & 5th. Lafreniere is a great player, but I don't think he stands out above the rest of his draft class so exceptionally that you don't justify taking a swing at two other highly touted prospects in what is being called one of the deepest drafts. If he was projecting to be a McDavid or Crosby level talent - then yeah, I'd keep 1st overall. But that doesn't happen very often.

 

[kevsh]

No, Toronto doesn't need more prospects, they need an RD. Or two. Unless ...

The only way this makes sense is if they can flip one of those picks (likely #3), even in package, for a top 4 right-shooting defenceman. Then see if they can find out what Detroit does at #4.
- If the Wings are taking a forward, then grab Drysdale and call it a day with a top 4 D and a solid RD prospect.
- If they want Drysdale, see if a deal can be made for #5. Otherwise, one of Rossi and Raymond. If either looks NHL ready in November, Johnsson can be dealt.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Pick Laf and trade Marner for a dman and d prospect or bottom 6 rookie maybe. Then use that cap space to add another RHD.

 

[xxOCZMSxx]

Well it’s 3:1 for the first pick.
I thought it would be closer.

 

[KnightsFan110]

3 & 5 no brainer

With Tavares taking up an annoying amount of cap space thus preventing Toronto from getting a defensemen in free agency due to his soon to be terrible contract, this would be a great opportunity for them to trade down and get Drysdale at 3 and at 5 get one of the remaining forwards

 

[Jeypic]

Our window is now. Stack the team now. Lafrieniere is nhl ready in an elite way. Our next 3 years we could win 3 cups. Then make a big trade when we run into cap trouble.

Lafrieniere Matthews Marner
Robertson Tavares Nylander
Hyman Kerfoot Kapanen
Johnnson Gauthier Mikheyev

We would have enough spare parts to put together a defense as strong this years easily with Sandin Liljegren Reilly all getting better every year too. but that offence would be averaging 5 goals a game.

That would be the funnest team to watch ever.