The Leafs did their part to earn the No. 1 draft choice by plotting a trajectory straight down the National Hockey League standings this season, which saw them finish 30th – dead last.
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Will the Leafs invest their first overall pick in center Auston Matthews? It was a planned tank, a strategic tank to get not only the No. 1 pick but also lure free-agents into town with a good amount of cap-space.
“We’re going to pick the player that we think is best”, Shanahan said in the headquarters of CBC television.
It was not just the Leafs who were rewarded for their ineptitude. As a result, the 10 highest-finishing non-playoff teams will benefit from better odds than in the past while the four lowest-finishing teams-Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and Columbus-face longer odds.
“They definitely have a lot of young talent”, Matthews said.
Winnipeg vaulted from sixth to second by winning the lottery for the No. 2 pick, while Columbus jumped from fourth to third.
Even though they missed out on the top pick, they’re going to end up with an elite forward out of this lottery. “Matthews is so polished, you know exactly what you’re getting”. Laine possess an wonderful shot and his scoring touch is among tops among draft eligible players. However, it seems that most of a country is missing all the action.
Consider Saturday a night of redemption.
The Maple Leafs will be assigned 200 of the 1,001 possible four-number combinations as the team with the highest odds.
The Blue Jackets, who badly needed a centre as did the Leafs after they traded Ryan Johansen to the Nashville Predators months back for puck-moving defenceman Seth Jones, could take another Finnish winger, Jesse Puljujarvi, who has been described as a Jari Kurri two-way type.
That would leave Jakob Chychrun and Olli Juolevi as the first options, both of whom played in the Ontario Hockey League this past season. “It’s an important moment for our fans and our ownership group, who have given us the support to do this build the right way”. “We’re going to have two very good picks”.
Matthews might not be a saviour. But the 6-foot-2 centre, whom scouts have compared to Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, is a player that the Leafs can build around. That is, if he goes No. 1. Shanahan wouldn’t provide any hints as to which player the Leafs might select. Depending on how all three play at the world championships, which begin in Russian Federation next week, we could see a changes to the draft order.
Dozens of fans gathered to watch the draft lottery Saturday afternoon at The Pint. “I’ve played some good games and I think the gap is smaller”. He was Canada’s top player in the world under-18 championship and will head to the University of North Dakota in the fall.
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“There’s probably not a wrong decision in one, two or three”, Winnipeg General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said. Despite the new draft lottery rules, the Leafs will pick first in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
