Matthew Hackett
The Toronto Maple Leafs' first draft under the watchul eye of Brian Burke displayed a stark change in the team's draft philosophy. The scouting staff searched for the type of players and attributes that would be able to fit into the mold of a tough, physical checking style of game that the Leafs hope to play several years down the road. As a result, we saw a lot more emphasis placed on size and toughness than skill and speed. Not surprisingly, all of Toronto's seven selections were from the North American ranks, four of them from the Ontario Hockey League and three from American hockey programs. [more…]
The first round didn't quite live up to all the hype that we were hoping for, but Toronto did come out of it with a promising two-way centreman in Nazem Kadri. As it currently stands, Toronto will have six selections on Day 2 of the NHL Entry Draft, which encompasses rounds 2 through 7. It all kicks off on NHL Network at 10am ET. Live updates and analysis throughout the day. [more…]
The ability to select future stars or even useful role players in the mid-late rounds is what separates the pretenders from the contenders. The class of the NHL when it comes to late round drafting are the Detroit Red Wings, with players like Helm (5th), Franzen (3rd), Filppula (2nd), Hudler (3rd), Ericsson (9th), Zetterberg (7th) and Datsyuk (6th) all playing key roles on a Stanley Cup Finalist team. As E.J. Mcguire alluded to in the previous chapter of Draft Watch '09, there will be plenty of potential impact players available beyond the first round of this year's entry draft. Let's take a look at some of the names: [more…]
Hockey's Future, the renowned hockey prospects website, announced their Spring Organizational Rankings today and the Toronto Maple Leafs found themselves in the bottom tier of the league at #23. The ranking is based on an assessment of a team's farm system, which takes into account the amount of star power and depth that is likely to be produced. For a team in "rebuilding" mode, that's not a flattering number to see. [more…]
