Toronto Maple Leafs:

Grade: B+

I’ll preface this by making it clear – top pick Auston Matthews (1st) had a lot to do with the grade. The Leafs were otherwise confusing me during all of Day 2, opting for overager after overager with picks they acquired from trading away significant pieces. Five of their 11 picks were draft leftovers, including super-scoring center Adam Brooks (92nd) and offensive defenseman Jack Walker (152nd) – two players in their fourth CHL season. Our point? Any kid who makes it to the CHL is talented. Give him four years and he’ll start exploiting the age/experience advantage he holds over the youngsters. Yegor Korshkov (31st) was a top-50 European prospect in each of the two drafts prior to 2016, but a strong WJC (surprise, surprise) gave him enough exposure to warrant a high draft selection at the very top of the second round. For the record, we understand it was a thin draft and teams were obviously incorporating that fact into their respective draft boards. We don’t have a problem with Korshkov getting drafted as much as we do with how high he went. And while some will say draft position is moot once a kid produces, we feel the Leafs should have used their second on a two-way defenseman anyway.

Toronto did make three straight picks we applauded, beginning with speedy crash-and-banger Carl Grundstrom (57th), a relentless forechecker who led his age group in hits and likes to play inside. Goalie Joseph Woll (62nd) had a bigger role than previous NTDP goalies in that he wasn’t backstopping a loaded juggernaut like his predecessors had. The Boston College commit was forced to steal games and put on impressive performances at several international competitions. He went a little higher than I thought, but the Evan Fitzpatrick pick to St. Louis at 59th overall likely elevated Woll as a no-brainer. Rangy defenseman J.D. Greenway (72nd) has the hands, size, mobility and understanding to become a serious two-way threat, but he stays within himself and picks his spots rather than force the issue and turn the puck over. It cliché as hell, but he is the definition of a pick with a high ceiling, and I’m hoping Wisconsin unbridles him next season.

Keaton Middleton (101st) is another blueliner with size, although he plays it safe and rarely ventures into scoring areas. He doesn’t like shooting, and his passes are as simple as you can get. But he’s a tough customer and can develop into a solid one-on-one crease clearer who will always stand up for his teammates. London’s Nicolas Mattinen (179th) has potential to be a reliable stay-at-home type, but you’d like to see him play more physical and make oppenents pay for entering the low slot. And two Russian overagers – playmaking winger Nikolai Chebykin (182nd) and speedy power forward Vladimir Bobylev (122nd) – are both skilled and work hard, making them good value picks in the later stages of the draft.