Dave Litman
The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the odds and won the NHL’s Draft Lottery. That stroke of luck has completely changed the narrative around the moribund franchise. Just one day earlier, all anyone could talk about was the team’s roundly-criticized hiring of new general manager John Chayka. Now, it’s all about that No. 1 pick in next month’s Draft.
18-year-old phenom Gavin McKenna is the consensus top pick, and would certainly look good alongside Auston Matthews on the top line. Of course, Matthews’ Leafs future is another story altogether.
As for the No. 1 pick, the debate now is centered around whether Toronto should keep it, or trade it for more assets.
Former Stanley Cup-winning general manager and long-time NHL veteran executive Brian Burke knows what he would do. And it’s not even a question for him.
I’m not so sure they’re gonna take Gavin McKenna. Not because he’s not a great prospect. But you can get three assets for this guy, and one of them can play right away… I know what I would do. I’d start shopping that pick — Today!
Remember, Burke is a guy who built a Stanley Cup champion in Anaheim as the team president and GM. Of course, to play devil’s advocate, he’s also the guy who traded two first-round picks (which became Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton) and a second-round pick to the Boston Bruins to acquire Phil Kessel for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2009.
Could the Maple Leafs trade the No. 1 pick?
There has indeed been plenty of talk about what the Leafs could do if they chose to deal that pick. We know that the Vancouver Canucks were hoping to get McKenna, who lived in nearby Kelowna, BC, during his teenage years. Would a trade of the top pick to the Canucks, in return for their No. 3 pick plus some other top assets, get them to bite?
The Leafs are without their first-round picks in both 2027 and 2028. Wouldn’t it be a huge coup for new GM Chayka to replenish that cupboard with another high-end first-rounder from Vancouver next year, with perhaps another elite prospect/young player, and walk away with the 3rd overall pick this year?
There are so many options available to Chayka and his compatriot in the Toronto front office, Mats Sundin. But maybe some of that comes back to the captain. Whether or not Matthews is all-in to continue being a Maple Leaf influences Chayka and Sundin’s decision on what to do with the No. 1 pick.
