So You Think You Can Draft - Leafs Edition

[Duke Silver]

Thread idea stolen from this post in the prospects forum.

The Canucks board does an annual So You Think You Can Draft thread in the immediate aftermath of each summer's draft so people have an opportunity without the benefit of hindsight to declare they would have chosen someone other than who was officially picked by their team.

Did you have someone in mind that you preferred we picked instead of:

53. Nick Robertson
84. Mikko Kokkonen
115. Mikhail Abramov
124. Nick Abruzzese
146. Mike Koster
204. Kalle Loponen

Obviously the Canucks' scouting staff is, to put it lightly, a ****show compared to ours (Virtanen and Juolevi picks not looking great), and a lot of our picks this year were lauded as high value picks at the spots they were taken, but maybe you had someone in mind that you think we're going to regret not taking. Here's your chance to declare that.

Click to read more...

 

[Funk21]

Brett Leason @ 53

 

[Randy Randerson]

Too bad this isn't getting any traction, it would be a fun thing to look back on. I think it would be much better received in a year where we had 5 picks in the top 3 rounds or something like that, it's hard to look at guys like Abruzzese and say that you really wanted someone else because probably everyone you really wanted was already gone.

Agree on Leason instead of Robertson, Kokkonen is the guy I would have taken in the 3rd round so good on the Leafs. After that there really wasn't anyone I thought was a big miss

 

[justafan22]

Brett Leason @ 53

why? He's an 2x overager

 

[Funk21]

why? He's an 2x overager

Brazeau was also an overage and we still signed him to an AHL contract. Kid is 6"6 and went through immense growth spurts and now is just growing into his body. As Dubas said, we will get you the training you need and if we don't get you to the NHL we have failed. Sometimes it takes players a bit of time to figure it all out. Look, this is just for fun but I have in the past scratched my head at some of the picks we made. Why we didn't take Hart the year we got Matthews is beyond me. IMO we wasted that second round pick.

If you read my post about Dubas's offseason I was fairly critical of the draft. I am pretty sure we are the only team in history to not draft a player over 6" in one draft. I know size is not the be all and end all but if you look at STL D they are all giants that can play and skate. To sound cliche, size matters and if she says it doesn't she is lying to you!!!!

 

[tmlms13]

Why should we be stealing things from the most annoying fanbase after Montreal?

Remember the Boeser > Matthews and Pettersson > McDavid posts?

Their idiot fan base is the reason they have been awful. They cry when the team sucks so management spends all their time trying to get into 8th.

Exhibit A: JT Miller for 1st round pick.

They've basically become the Leafs 2006-2014

 

[Its not your fault]

Why should we be stealing things from the most annoying fanbase after Montreal?

Remember the Boeser > Matthews and Pettersson > McDavid posts?

Their idiot fan base is the reason they have been awful. They cry when the team sucks so management spends all their time trying to get into 8th.

Exhibit A: JT Miller for 1st round pick.

They've basically become the Leafs 2006-2014

I read the Vancouver sun alot while I lived there Funny I feel it started with Sundin now that you mention the likeness.

 

[hockeynorth]

Know what I love this idea so here's mine:

53. Nick Robertson --> Nick Robertson
84. Mikko Kokkonen --> Mikko Kokkonen
115. Mikhail Abramov --> Ethan Keppen
124. Nick Abruzzese --> Leevi Aaltonen
146. Mike Koster --> Mikhail Shalagin
204. Kalle Loponen --> Valentin Nussbaumer
Traded pick* --> Dustin Wolf

These were my favourite guys left at each slot

 

[Duffman955]

I dont know much past the 3rd round.

Would have loved Leason in the 2nd

 

[Duke Silver]

Why should we be stealing things from the most annoying fanbase after Montreal?

Remember the Boeser > Matthews and Pettersson > McDavid posts?

Their idiot fan base is the reason they have been awful. They cry when the team sucks so management spends all their time trying to get into 8th.

Exhibit A: JT Miller for 1st round pick.

They've basically become the Leafs 2006-2014

You could always just not post in threads you don't like.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Brazeau was also an overage and we still signed him to an AHL contract. Kid is 6"6 and went through immense growth spurts and now is just growing into his body. As Dubas said, we will get you the training you need and if we don't get you to the NHL we have failed. Sometimes it takes players a bit of time to figure it all out. Look, this is just for fun but I have in the past scratched my head at some of the picks we made. Why we didn't take Hart the year we got Matthews is beyond me. IMO we wasted that second round pick.

If you read my post about Dubas's offseason I was fairly critical of the draft. I am pretty sure we are the only team in history to not draft a player over 6" in one draft. I know size is not the be all and end all but if you look at STL D they are all giants that can play and skate. To sound cliche, size matters and if she says it doesn't she is lying to you!!!!

Thats what she said!!

 

[Prominence]

I would not compare leason with brazeau. Brazeau is a +3 overager whereas leason is +2. Leason is much more likely to make the nhl than brazeau who is a project. Dubas would not discriminate against leason for his overage status. If he liked leason, he would have jumped on it (dubas does not believe in cognitive bias such as age or size). He did draft durzi and hollowell last year as overagers.

 

[tmlms13]

You could always just not post in threads you don't like.

And forfeit a perfectly good opportunity to make fun of Canucks fans with a good side shot at Montreal?

No thanks

 

[hockeynorth]

Man lets get this thread going this offseason dry and I want to see what people thought a few years from now

 

[Duke Silver]

Man lets get this thread going this offseason dry and I want to see what people thought a few years from now

I think the issue is that most people don't really develop a knowledge of players from outside the first round.

I remember being in the 2011 draft thread wanting to draft Boone Jenner instead of Tyler Biggs.

Here's the full post from a few days after the 2011 draft:

Leafs: C

Leafs could have landed a comparable player to Biggs at #25 in Boone Jenner, AND kept their #39 in the process. They probably would have been able to pick up Percy at #30, as well. Seemed like they jumped the gun unnecessarily by trading up. At #39 they could have picked up Saad or Rask.

Jenner + Percy + Saad/Rask would have been a way better haul than Biggs + Percy.

I don't know much about their later picks, but I just didn't like how our first two rounds played out.

 

[Mitch nylander]

Know what I love this idea so here's mine:

53. Nick Robertson --> Nick Robertson
84. Mikko Kokkonen --> Mikko Kokkonen
115. Mikhail Abramov --> Ethan Keppen
124. Nick Abruzzese --> Leevi Aaltonen
146. Mike Koster --> Mikhail Shalagin
204. Kalle Loponen --> Valentin Nussbaumer
Traded pick* --> Dustin Wolf

These were my favourite guys left at each slot

Original
#53 - Nicholas Robertson
#84 - Mikko Kokkonen
#115 - Mikhail Abramov
#124 - Nick Abbruzeese
#146 - Mike Koster
#204 - Kalle Loponen

My draft
#53 - Nicholas Robertson
#84 - Mikko Kokkonen
#115 - Tukka Tieksola
#124 -Leevi Aaltonen
#146 - Matvey Guskov
#204 - Valentin Nussbaumer/Juuso Parssinen
Traded Pick - Xavier Simoneau

 

[MagicalRazor]

#53 - Nicholas Robertson Solid first pick of the draft can't complain at all with this one

#84 - Ilya Konovalov/Mikko Kokkonen this pick is the toughest in t he draft at this 84 these are the 2 players i really wanted it's a 50/50 pick for me. Ilya's numbers are really nice

#115 - Ethan Keppen Big thick winger something we lack not scared to go into corners or play infront of the net put up great numbers as a 17 year old in the OHL i wouldn't be surprised if he broke 100 points in the OHL next season

#124 - Nicholas Porco watched him play in the soo and than he moved down to Toronto to play in the GTHL because he was to good for the northern ontario he's a gem this kid his cycle game is good and his dad is the AAA midget coach up in sault ste marie . Hes gonna be a good player.

#146 - Martin Hugo Has , Big ole RHS D somthing we need in our system . Hes sound defensively and has a mean streak to him

#204- Dustin Wolf , Put up really good numbers in the WHL , The WHL is a high scoring league so for a goalie to have 1.69 GAA and a 936 SV% in 61 games played at the age of 18 These numbers are better than IAN SCOTT