Leafs' head of scouting reveals the team's plan for tonight's draft
Tonight's draft will be a bit unorthodox for the Leafs. Not only is the team positioned with just 3 picks in the draft, but for the first half of the 1st round, their GM won't even have a seat at the draft table. Thankfully, the Calgary Flames have allowed Brad Treliving to join the Leafs at the draft table once they've made their 1st round pick at 16th overall. The Leafs don't pick until 28th overall.
Following yesterday's presser with Brad Treliving, the media got some time in with the head of the Leafs' scouting department, Wes Clark, who has been heavily involved in previous drafts with the team and has been responsible for some very strong picks recently. Clark had quite a bit to say about the Leafs' priorities in tonight's draft and provided a great deal of insight as to where they're currently positioned.
When pressed to share some of the key attributes that the Leafs are looking for tonight, Clark pointed to two traits that the team will highly covet.
The Leafs have just 3 picks in the draft, as I mentioned above. Clark believes that the Leafs are under no stress, even given the lack of draft capital. Instead, the team is focusing on what they can control, not what they can't.
It's a well-known fact that Treliving hasn't been involved in the draft in any capacity for the Leafs, as was the stipulation from the Flames when they allowed Treliving to interview for the Leafs' vacant GM position before his contract was officially expired in Calgary. Clark was asked point blank if anything has changed for the Leafs now that Treliving is being permitted to join the team at the draft table. In terms of what the Leafs' prerogative is tonight, and if they are heading into the draft favouring any one position, Clark shot down that idea pretty quickly.
Tonight's draft, as well as day two tomorrow, should be a fun event, even if there isn't a whole lot of draft capital to work with. There still exists the possibility that the Leafs could move up or down, or trade someone from their roster to acquire more picks, so we could yet see 3 picks turn into 4, 5 or more.
