“It wasn’t a whole lot of fun this year, but our guys and our coaching staff and our management staff did a lot of really good things here in Toronto”.
Advertisement
The lottery will determine the order of the first 14 picks of the 2016 NHL Draft, which will be held June 24-25 at First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
Calgary Flames President Brian Burke was quoted on the team’s website questioning whether teams should be allowed to have No. 1 picks in consecutive years by noting “you can’t get rewarded for continued failure or continued luck”.
Another dozen teams from the expansion era have won a league championship, led by four titles each for the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers. American Auston Matthews has been on everyone’s radar for the past two years, but Finland’s Patrik Laine’s stock has been on the rise and we have a replay of the Taylor-Tyler debate of 2010 when the Oilers chose Taylor Hall over Tyler Seguin. He can join William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Morgan Rielly as the core of the future.
“They needed some good news and while there’s still a lot of work to be done, this was some good news for them and they deserved it”, Shanahan said.
“It was a great night for the organization, it was a great night for the fans”. They have gotten extremely lucky and have received the honor of likely drafting Auston Matthews, who is the consensus number one pick.
Burnside: Well, my friend, I have to admit there was nervous anticipation even among the media group watching the draft lottery Saturday night, so I can’t imagine the nerves for the representatives of the three final teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets.
In 2014, the Columbus Blue Jackets gave the Pittsburgh Penguins everything they could in a Game 6 loss, where they nearly completed a comeback to force Game 7.
For Maple Leafs fans, the tanking plan obviously paid off. It was a risky move – especially with everyone assuming in the back of their minds that somehow Edmonton would yet again win the lottery.
Further positions of the teams will be known as the teams will be eliminated after the Stanley Cup Playoffs second round.
Crosby and Kane – along with other stars those teams took high in the draft such as Marc-André Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Jonathan Toews – have helped both teams remain contenders for years.
Puljujarvi, who is 6-3 and 198 pounds, doesn’t turn 18 until Saturday. Matthew Tkachuk has been lighting up the Ontario Hockey League playoffs for London, and Keith’s son seems like a strong bet to be a top-five selection. Last year, I decked myself out; I had stuff in my pocket. Until more Arizonans make their way into the NHL, Canadians will probably view Matthews as an anomaly and they’ll be right. The top Canadian forward, Pierre-Luc Dubois, might not be a center, either.
“One of the top players that is available in this draft, without question”, Lamoriello said. Still, there was another notable draft affair but for the National Hockey League. However, for every system that is in place, someone will find a way to take advantage of it.
The Leafs enter this off-season with plenty of holes to fill and approximately $11.5 million to spend – an equation that gets awfully tricky if you factor in a potential annual salary of $10-million or more for Stamkos.
Advertisement
Oh, and to those Maple Leafs fans, Matthews’ preferred sweater has been No. 34.
