Season’s end, and a Leafs game still matters. Wait, what?

@Jon
Yes, I have seen Schenn play. I am in no way saying he will not be a good player. I am simply saying that Cowen, Kadri or MSP could all potentially turn out to be just as good/better, none of us know for sure how players will turn out once their in the NHL. And I just wonder if what you would have to give up to move up those couple of spots will be worth it (seeing as how this will be the 2nd year in a row we’d be doing this)

@Jon: Oh, Im with you if we could get Schenn with our 7th pick I’d be on him like a fat kid on a smartie lol! But, if he is gone and MSP or Cowen are still available I’d rather have either of them then overpay to move up a couple spots to get Schenn

@Carlton: I refuse to let myself even consider that possibility! LOL

There is no way I’d be trading Kaberle and the 7th overall pick to move up a “couple of spots”, let alone take on a contract from another team to do it.

Did you guys not hear Burke at the Trade Deadline, Tomas isn’t going anywhere unless a good young player, a prospect and a 1st round pick comes back. That being said, the draft positions will be set next Tuesday, so I could see him going for a Top 10 pick and a good young player/prospect, seeing as the draft pick would be a guaranteed Top 10.

As for who we’ll be drafting, I think it’s safe to say Tavares, Hedman, Duchene, Kane and Svennson-Paraarvi will all be gone in the Top 5, leaving us with the possibility of getting one of Schenn, Cowan or Kadri. Seeing as the Leafs look pretty set on defense, if it came down to either Cowan or Schenn/Kadri, I believe Burke would take the forward.

That bing said, I don’t think anybody drafting in the Top 8 this year will be coming out with a bad player, but it certainly drops off after that!

..plus Tampa owes us a favor

Well I am going to try and make myself feel better and say perhaps Toronto would have entered the lottery draft with the 5th pick but then a team behind them wins the lottery and moves Toronto to 6th.

I am just hoping the lottery throws the Leafs a bone this time. The league took away the Leaf’s 4th round pick this year because of the Frogren signing and a nice gesture would be giving us the 3rd pick overall

I know if Toronto wins the lottery, people are going to go crazy that we would have gotten a chance to draft Tavares at #1 if we had entered the lottery draft at #5.

But that scenerio is not going to happen. I have a bad feeling Dallas or Ottawa will win the lottery and push Toronto to 8th (

Seeing how Doughty, Schenn and Bogosian and Luca Sbisa all played this year after taken in the first round last year, I have to believe another team drafting in the top-5 will take a defenceman after Hedman.

If that happens, MAYBE Schenn and Kane fall to #7.

Something to keep in mind. Columbus was drafting #6 last year and got arguebly one of the best fowards in the draft after Stamkos in Nikita Filatov. Nashvile drafted Colin Wilson at #7 last year, and he was a Hobey Baker Trophy finalist this year and just lead his team to a national title. And what about the Canucks? At the 10th draft spot they STOLE Cody Hodgson.

But the difference was, 4 defencemen went in the top-5 last year. That’s why so many good forwards were available from #6-10 in the 2008 draft.

But this year, it looks like only 1 defenceman will be taken in the top-5. Meaning, 3-4 of the better forwards after Tavares will be gone before the #7 pick.

Can’t beileve that if the Leafs only lost ONE, yes ONE game more this year they would be sitting in the 5th spot.

I say this in all sincerity but have fans stopped parading in the streets after beating Detroit in the first game of this season? Do fans still relish the 8-5 win over the Flames a few weeks ago? Even better, what about the game in Tampa Bay when the Leafs were down 3-0 in the middle of the second period, only to come back and win in overtime?

That was the game that was the final nail in the coffin for the Leafs lottery pick. For all you anti-tankers out there, are you still soaking up that win in Tampa Bay?

Think of the buzz in this city if Toronto was going into Tuesday’s lottery draft with the 5th pick overall and a chance to draft Tavares? Even if Toronto didn’t win the lottery draft, they were GUARANTEED to get a helluva player in Schenn or Kane.

Don’t be stupid, Duchene, MSP, Kane and Schenn WILL be gone by #7 and Leafs will take Cowen.

Remember the 1990 NHL draft when the Leafs were picking #10 and decided to take a chance on a defenceman who was still rehabbing from a serious knee injury? The name, Drake Berehowsky. Look how that turned out.

Nice.

I guess the other thing is that the Leafs might be forced to trade their 2 second round picks just to move into the top-5 of the draft.

Had the Leafs been in the 5th spot, it would not be as costly to move up a spot or two.

I hope London comes out as the OHL Champions and head to Memorial Cup tournament. That way, Kadri’s stock goes up and Brampton’s Matt Duchene stock can drop a bit but I don’t think he will be available at #7.

Man, I am tired of complaining but would have been so much happier had the Sens played better last night. No way the Leafs play Joseph last because they did not want to risk having him lose and therefore have the NHL record for the most losses by a goalie.

What is Cowen’s injury status? I read it was a serius knee injury.

Kadri is overrated. He is having his stats padded while playing with Tavares.
I think we have no choice but to move up to #5 like we did last year. Then it will be our choice to take Brayden Schenn or Evander Kane.
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Duchene may be out of reach. I think Brayden is our guy for this year.

I loved every win! The draft is only one part, not the only, needed to build a championship team. Seriously, between the 5th and 7th spot is not that different, it will never be a make or break difference. I would rather see a team that wanted to win every night and battled through than a team that would roll over and die… I for one have seen enough of that team the past few seasons.