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A roundup of 2017 Toronto Maple Leafs draft coverage in the Sunday links.


Button: Leafs still a solid team despite not landing Hamonic (TSN1050)
TSN Resident Scout Craig Button joins Andy McNamara to discuss Travis Hamonic being dealt to Calgary, what it means for the Leafs, and the Buds’ draft choices.

On the Leafs‘ selection of Timothy Liljegren at 17th overall:

You’re looking at Liljegren, who has kind of had a star-crossed season this year and then he could never really get his footing. He was playing on multiple teams all around. He was never really able to get that rhythm. When he did get out on the ice, it was like he wanted to show everybody what he could do. He’s a young player with a lot of skill. He can skate. He’s got great leverage, great quickness. That dynamic skating ability where he can jump into the attack and take advantage — he can just explode. If you don’t have him marked, he becomes immediately dangerous. Excellent shot, and quick. He can shoot off the move, he can shoot stationary. Really accurate, and really gets it to the net. The biggest thing with Timothy is he has to learn less is more.

You understand what his strengths are, and you understand you’ve got to work with him to develop those other areas. There is lots of potential with Timothy. When you start to talk about dynamic ability and the skating ability and that shot, that’s a pretty good quality to start with.

On Eemeli Rasanen:

You take out the tape measure and can see he’s 6’7. He can make a play with the puck. That’s the biggest thing I look for in defencemen. If his skating was fluid and he had all this coordination to him, he’d be a top-ten pick. Who wouldn’t want a 6’7 defenceman that can skate? I look at it as inherent flaws and developmental flaws. He doesn’t have any inherent flaws. It’s all about development. He’s got to work on his coordination. He’s got to work on the physical maturity and do all the things to be quicker. I think that he can be.

On the development timelines for both players:

Rasanen is on a four or five year [timeline]. Liljegren has to have a season next year where he can really get his footing and really get into a rhythm. Just get back to having a place. He didn’t really have a place this year on any team. That’s nothing to do with his play. It has to do with the illness and trying to find your way back in. That’s what he’s got to do next year. Let’s see where he’s at and where that year takes him. He certainly, with his skating ability, it’s not about four years for him. He’s a player that is a little bit further along in his development.

Grading the Toronto Maple Leafs’ OHL selections in the 2017 NHL Draft (MLHS)
The Leafs have taken a few of these types of players (all from the OHL) in recent drafts: Keaton Middleton, Nic Mattinen, and now Rasanen and Gordeev. You have to think that one of these defencemen can develop into a quality, punishing defender for the parent club. Of the four, Gordeev is actually the best skater, in my opinion, and that’s what makes this selection a good one, especially when combined with the improvement he’s already shown. I actually expected an NHL team to take a chance on Gordeev earlier than the fifth round.

Fedor Gordeev: An interview with Firebirds head coach Ryan Oulahen (MLHS)
I said to him straight up, “We traded for you to be a defenceman, so you’re going to be a defenceman. You’re going to have to be patient and grow and develop into that position.” He came along quite fast and played a pretty significant role for us with top-four minutes. He got some power play time and a little bit of penalty kill time while developing his all-around game. That was his role last year. We had a veteran defence as well. We had two overagers and a 19-year-old who signed with Arizona. Fedor was the fourth guy in our mix. Those older players have now left and he’s going to have tons more responsibility this year. The sky’s the limit for him.

Babcock prepares for challenge (Toronto Sun)
“I just think it’s so important you tell the family you’re going to look after their kid,” Babcock told Postmedia’s Dave Stubbs. “To me that’s a big deal. If I have my boy there, I want someone of good moral fiber drafting him and looking after him. When you put in all the time like they do, let’s face it, the family gets drafted, not just the boy. It’s an exciting day for those kids. It’s a chance. That’s all you can ask for in life — a chance.

Leafs stick with plan through draft (TSN.ca)
Lamoriello did admit that if there were opportunities along the way for the Leafs to improve – without compromising the team’s future – they’d do it. The search continues in the trade market, and will likely ramp up when free agency opens on July 1, but until then Toronto is pleased with how the weekend unfolded in Chicago, particularly with how they were able to shore up the organization’s blue line depth.

[Paywall] Mirtle: A closer look at the Leafs 2017 draft (The Athletic)
“Gordeev didn’t impress enough to be considered for my rankings,” said Grant McCagg, of the independent site recrutes.ca. “Honestly their last two drafts are underwhelming,” added ESPN’s Corey Pronman, who gave the Leafs a B grade for 2017 largely on the strength of landing intriguing Swedish defenceman Timothy Liljegren at 17th on Day 1.

Maple Leafs focus on blueline with first two picks of 2017 draft (National Post)
Mystery forward Vladislav Kara, who plays for the Kazan team in the secondary Russian league, closed out the fourth round. Most observers have no scouting book on the 19-year-old winger. He he was taken with a pick Toronto received from Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh in the Frank Corrado trade. A number of Leafs bird dogs in Russia liked what they saw of the 6-foot-2 player who had 25 points in 38 games.

‘Highly regarded’ D-man Timothy Liljegren a steal for Leafs at 17 (Toronto Sun)
In fact, Liljegren’s draft year was all but trampled on by the disease that leaves you fatigued. He never played to his potential. Not even close. He drifted from team to team, situation to situation. He didn’t get to play in the world junior for Sweden. He didn’t get a whole lot of love from Rogle, his team in the Swiss Elite League, which provided him with little ice time this season. He intentionally avoided reading the scouting advances, some of which had him ranked as high as third pick in the draft last summer, and he didn’t seem the least bit disappointed to be chosen in the 17th spot by the Leafs.


Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 Draft Picks

PlayerRound PickEligiblePosTeamLeagueHt/WtGPGAPtsScouting
Timothy Liljegren1172017RDRogle BKSHL 6'0/19219145READ
Eemeli Rasanen2592017RDKingstonOHL6'7/2096663339READ
Ian Scott41102017GPrince AlbertWHL6'3/174503.96 GAA.895 SV%READ
Vladislav Kara41242016C/LWIrbis KazanMHL6'1/1873111920READ
Fedor Gordeev51412017LDFlintOHL6'6/2096231013READ
Ryan McGregor61722017WSarniaOHL6'0/16065141327READ
Ryan O'Connell72032017LDSt. Andrew'sCAHS6'1/1704762733READ
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