The Toronto Maple Leafs did nothing but lose all regular season finishing at bottom of the league. The losing didn't stop there as the Maple Leafs lost the draft lottery and were bumped from the first overall pick by the Dallas Stars. While unfortunate, General Manager and Survivalist Mike Walters said before the draft that it might actually make his decision easier.
"A lot of pressure is placed on teams when they choose first overall because most fans believe a first overall selection automatically produces superstar."
1st round, 2nd overall
Aleksander Barkov, Jr
Birthyear: 1995-09-02 Birthplace: Tampere, FIN
Age: 17 Nation: Finland / Russia
Position: C Shoots: L
Height: 188 cm / 6'2" Weight: 93 kg / 205 lbs
"A very calm center who uses his vision well, Barkov has an excellent offensive game and good size. His very good passing and puckhandling combined with great hands and hockey sense make him a big offensive threat. He plays with high confidence and never seems to be under pressure. He has very good hockey sense and handles defensive duties well. Barkov is a creative cebter with a very solid overall package and the skillset to compensate for his below-average skating. As an 18-year-old, he was already playing in a scoring line in the Finnish league while also handling a lot of responsibility on both the powerplay and penalty-kill." (Matias Strozyk, 2013)
While some believe Toronto may have gone off the board a little when selecting the 17 year old from Finland but Walters says he got exactly who he wanted."
"Barkov was the best player available in the draft and I am extremely excited to work with him. From day one I was enamored with Aleksander's game. He work ethic in both ends of the ice is exceptional for someone that young playing in a league of grown men. His intangibles were the difference for us in the end though, and really it was a no brainer for me. We may have mislead people at times in regards to who we were looking at but Aleksander was always top of our list and I was fairly certain we would get him at the number 2 spot."
Before the draft, Toronto made several moves to improve the lineup. Le Sieur was sent back to Phoenix for the 88th overall pick which was later send BACK to Phoenix for Chris "The Professor" Higgins. The Leafs then acquired Antoine Vermette from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Toronto's 2013 5th rounder. The 82nd overall pick was sent to the Rangers for goaltender Daniel Larsson who is expected to take over starting duties for the Marlies. General Manager Mike Walters then made a bold move in acquiring David Clarkson and John-Michael Liles for the 42nd overall pick and Rostislav Olesz.
6th round, 151st overall
Leon Bristedt
Birthyear: 1995-03-14 Birthplace: Waxholm, SWE
Age: 18 Nation: Sweden
Position: C/F Shoots: L
Height: 173 cm / 5'8" Weight: 83 kg / 183 lbs
Projection: Farm player
7th round, 181st
Igor Boldin, Jr?
Birthyear: 1995-01-16 Birthplace: Hämeenlinna, FIN
Age: 18 Nation: Russia
Position: RW Shoots: L
Height: 180 cm / 5'11" Weight: 71 kg / 157 lbs
Projection: Farm player