The Kyle Dubas era Leafs are paying for the poor drafting of the previous administration
In a salary cap world, having young players on entry level contracts be able to contribute is a huge advantage for any contending team. These players are hard to find, especially for teams who don't often have high draft picks. The Leafs have had plenty of draft picks over the past decade, but thanks to the poor drafting of Mark Hunter and Lou Lamoriello, they don't have much to show for it outside of the no-brainer picks.
Lets look at current Leafs who were drafted by Hunter and Lou and developed by the team. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Timothy Liljegren. That's it. Others have been traded or claimed on waivers but did at least make the NHL. Travis Dermott, Adam Brooks, Dmitro Timashov, and Carl Grundstrom. Goaltender Joseph Woll played a few games last season, but will start next season in the minors. That's 8 players who have played games in the NHL out of 27 picks across three drafts. Outside of the first round, only 5 of 24 have made it to the big leagues at all, 2 of whom have played less than 50 games. Not a very good success rate.
What the Leafs are lacking right now are players like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, Mathieu Joseph, and Ross Colton. All drafted in the 2nd round or later by Tampa, all contributors to Tampa's back to back Stanley Cup runs and, aside from Point and Kucherov, all taken in the same drafts Hunter and Lamoriello whiffed on. Instead, the Leafs have had to fill out the roster through trades or free agency. Spending future draft picks and precious cap space to do so.
Time will tell if Dubas' drafting will bear any more fruit than the previous administrations, but he has used picks on prospects like Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson, Topi Niemela, Roni Hirvonen, Ty Voit and Pontus Holmberg outside of the first round. Half of them are ready or nearly ready to compete for roster spots. At worst, they make much better trade chips than the likes of Andrew Nielsen, Keaton Middleton or Yegor Korshkov. At best, they will be key complimentary players on entry level deals providing value in positions the Leafs would normally have had to fill with multi million dollar free agents.
Looking to the future, the Leafs will have a ton of cap space available to them 2 seasons from now when Auston Matthews and William Nylander's contracts expire. If they want to keep them, and Mitch Marner the year after, having a crop of young players ready to contribute on their ELC's could go a long way. They could also go a long way in getting the Leafs over the hump and into the second round and beyond. Wouldn't that be nice?
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 29 | 451 ANSWERS The Kyle Dubas era Leafs are paying for the poor drafting of the previous administration Will Dubas' late round draft picks turn out better than Hunter's? | ||
| Yes, its a low bar | 197 | 43.7 % |
| No, they're too small | 148 | 32.8 % |
| They'll be key players moving forward | 106 | 23.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
