The Maple Leafs brass will be spectators for most of the first day at the NHL’s 2003 Entry Draft, having traded away their first round draft pick to San Jose in the deadline deal to acquire Owen Nolan. The Leafs won’t pick until the 57th selection on Saturday, a position from which they grabbed Belleville forward Matt Stajan in last year’s draft. Last June they managed to pick up a 3rd (78th overall) round pick from Calgary in a compensation deal for the rights to Curtis Joseph. While most experts agree that this is one of the deepest drafts in recent memory, the Maple Leafs scouting staff will have to be at their best to find two quality young players at their present drafting positions. The Maple Leafs sacrificed quite a few of their picks loading up at this year’s trade deadline, and only have five at present to work with at the Draft.
Overview of Maple Leafs 2003 Picks
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Round |
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Pick |
How Acquired |
|
2 |
57 |
Own Pick |
|
3 |
78 |
From Calgary as compensation for losing Curtis Joseph to free agency |
|
5 |
158 |
Own Pick |
|
7 |
220 |
Own Pick |
|
8 |
237 |
From Nashville for the rights to Tie Domi in late June 2002. |
The Maple Leafs are fond of saying they are looking for the best players available every year; however, given the shortage of quality forward prospects within their farm system, they must be hoping that a few good young snipers fall to their draft slots. Here is a look at a few players that may interest the team at this year’s draft.
Corey Perry: the 6’2” sniper from the London Knights had a tremendous play-off run, scoring 23 points in 14 games. Perry has the size and scoring ability that the Leafs desperately need in their prospect system. (CSS Rank: 35NA)
Jonathon Filewich: the 6’2” right winger brings size and energy to the table. A teammate of Maple Leafs prospect Todd Ford, Filewich is a well-rounded player who, like Perry, would bring some much-needed skill and size up front to the Leafs organization. (CSS Rank:24NA)
Mike Richards: the offensive sparkplug of the Kitchener Rangers will probably be gone by the time the Leafs turn to draft comes around, but could slip due to concerns about his size. Richards has the skills the Maple Leafs need up front. (CSS Rank: 30NA)
Nathan Paetsch: Paetsch is the cream of the draft re-entry crop. The 6’0” defenseman is a known commodity, and is ready to step in at the AHL level. Leafs scouting director Barry Trapp knows Paetsch from his years of involvement with Canada’s World Junior program. While the Leafs are quite deep at the defense position in terms of young prospects, selecting the former Capitals second rounder would free them up to deal from a position of strength to fill holes elsewhere in the organization. (CSS Rank: N/A)
Robert Nilsson: The top ranked Swede for this year’s draft, Nilsson would look really good alongside countryman Alex Steen in Blue and White down the road. The Maple Leafs would most likely have to find a way to trade up to acquire the young playmaker, although his stock has taken a bit of a hit. (CSS Rank: 9E)
Is being drafted by the Maple Leafs a curse?
It is quite a popular sport in Toronto to deride the Maple Leafs poor draft record in recent years. Sure, the selections of players such as Jeff Ware, Ryan Pepperall and Peter Reynolds have not worked out the way the organization projected on their respective draft days, but the team has also been plagued with an unusual number of accidents, injuries and maladies which has cut short or seriously de-railed a number of their young prospects careers as of late. What kind of player would Luca Cereda be today if he had had the opportunity to play for Brian Kilrea’s Ottawa 67s in 2000, rather then missing the entire season due to an irregular heart beat? Would the Maple Leafs have been able to overcome their injuries on the blue line against Philadelphia this past post-season if Karel Pilar had not missed the last half of the year due to a virus that weakened his heart? Would Mark Deyell have contributed at the big league level after a few promising seasons on the Rock, if his eye had not been damaged in a freak on-ice accident in 1999? How good would Nik Antropov be today if he hadn’t already had two knee surgeries that forced him to miss almost a full season of hockey? Would Jeff Farkas be playing full-time somewhere in the NHL if it hadn’t been for his unfortunate spine injury this past season? How about former top prospect and 1998 second rounder Petr Svoboda, who has been suffering from a sort of chronic-fatigue illness that has only just been properly diagnosed and medicated.
Hockey is a physical sport and all teams suffer injuries to their players as a result. The Maple Leafs just seem to have been more snake-bitten then most recently, especially when it comes to their high draft picks. If I were a top prospect sitting in the stands in Nashville, I might be tempted to cross my fingers when the Maple Leafs turn comes about late in the second round on Saturday.
Did you Know?
While the Maple Leafs have mostly drafted CHL players with
their top picks in recent years, they have been very successful drafting
European defensemen in the bottom of the draft as well. Check out the list of players who have been selected in the 5th
round and later:
Daniel Markov: 150th 1995
Tomas Kaberle: 206th, 1996
Pierre Hedin: 239th, 1999
Markus Seikola: 209th, 2000
Maxim Kondratiev: 168th, 2001
Staffan Kronwall: 285th, 2002
