Leafs GM shares what he intends to do with tomorrow's 1st round draft pick
The 2023 NHL Entry Draft will kick off tomorrow evening in Nashville, just three days before free agency begins on July 1st. With so much set to happen this week, fans will likely see many trades happening in the coming days, perhaps even including their team's picks in this draft, as some teams will try to free up cap space, and others will push to get a higher draft pick or trade down to recoup additional picks.
While the original train of thought was that the Leafs would move their pick, that no longer appears to be the case. The Leafs own Boston's first rounder this year, which is the 28th overall pick.
Initially, the Leafs had what ended up being the 25th overall pick, which was sent to St. Louis as part of the deal that brought Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Accari to Toronto. The Leafs nabbed Boston's 1st rounder from Washington in the Rasmus Sandin trade. Both of the Leafs' other remaining picks for this draft are their own, in rounds 5 and 6.
The Leafs haven't drafted in the first round since 2020 when they picked Rodin Amirov 15th overall. That's not to say it's not impossible to find a diamond in the rough, as Matthew Knies and Fraser Minten were both second-round picks in 2021 and 2022, respectively. However, one thing to keep in mind is that the Leafs are going into this draft with a new GM. It's hard to say what Brad Treliving has up his sleeve regarding this draft, but regardless, I don't think it'd necessarily be a bad thing if the Leafs ended up with a good prospect at the end of the first round rather than dealing the pick for immediate help.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 27 | 75 ANSWERS Leafs GM shares what he intends to do with tomorrow's 1st round draft pick Will the Leafs hold onto their 1st round pick or trade it on the draft floor tomorrow night? | ||
| Trade it | 39 | 52 % |
| Use it to draft at 28th overall | 36 | 48 % |
| List of polls | ||
