What does getting No. 1 pick mean for Maple Leafs?

0:02 Okay, let's get into this Toronto Maple Leafs draft lottery win by walking

0:08 to the other side of the studio

0:10 and chatting with Craig Button and Frankie Curado.

0:12 We're here to chat about it.

0:14 And guys, what a wild night.

0:19 What happened?

0:20 What happened?

0:21 The Leafs won the lottery yesterday.

0:25 The franchise felt like it was in a a a disaster mode.

0:30 uh disastrous press conference messaging was bizarre.

0:35 Then they win the lottery and we've forgotten all about it, haven't we?

0:38 Yeah.

0:38 Not only do they win the lottery, okay,

0:40 I think you need to understand this from the Vancouver market point of view.

0:43 Okay.

0:44 Yeah.

0:44 Because personal experience was drafted by Vancouver.

0:47 I went out there kid from Toronto.

0:49 I met people and they said,

0:50 "It must be weird for you to be out in Vancouver." I said,

0:53 "Why?" "Well, don't you guys hate us?" I go, "No." They go, "Well, we hate you.

0:59 I didn't know.

0:59 I didn't know there was this vitrial.

1:02 They really do hate it.

1:03 If Vancouver was going to lose this to anyone,

1:05 it would be anyone except the Leafs.

1:07 But that's unfortunately what happens for them.

1:11 Yeah.

1:10 Well, we watched what unfolded yesterday

1:12 and all the consternation after the announcement

1:14 of John Shake as the manager and everything that went on with it.

1:17 And now you have a delirious fan base

1:19 that and and and for the Toronto Maple Leafs,

1:22 you think about in a span of 24 hours how it went 180 degrees.

1:26 Yeah.

1:26 So, that's a positive because you should

1:28 never be talking about what's off the ice.

1:31 You should always be the focus on the ice.

1:33 And now it's right back there, which is great.

1:34 It's that's how it should be.

1:36 Okay.

1:36 But I'm going to take it right off

1:37 the ice again because Jimmy Ratherford announced uh

1:41 on Tuesday that he'll be stepping down after

1:44 the draft itself and remaining as an adviser,

1:48 but stepping away from day-to-day operations.

1:50 A lot of talk about Pierre Dorian maybe being in the mix as a GM.

1:54 that's sort of quieted down.

1:56 Like it's sort of as crazy as it was for for Toronto yesterday, Frankie.

2:02 What's going on in Vancouver right now might actually be a little more crazy.

2:06 Yeah, for sure.

2:06 And listen, I get I get how much angst there would be within that market.

2:11 They've never drafted first overall.

2:14 And unfortunately for the the Sadine Twins are watching the draft.

2:17 Like they're representing the team.

2:18 They lost in game seven of the cup

2:20 final and now they don't get the golden ticket.

2:23 Although like as you know it's not a McDavid draft

2:26 you're going to get a very good player and chances

2:28 are at three they could still get a an impact

2:31 of a player that is similar to number one.

2:34 So it shouldn't be seen as like this catastrophe in Vancouver.

2:38 It's just you know you would have liked to be able to

2:41 to cling on to number one and say this is

2:44 you know this is what we're going to be moving forward

2:46 especially when you're wireto wire the worst team in the NHL all year long.

2:49 You'd like to be rewarded for for that right?

2:51 Okay, so let me tell you who got rewarded for that.

2:54 In 2017, the worst team in the National

2:56 Hockey League wire to wire was the Colorado Avalanche.

2:59 And there was three slots available, one, two, and three.

3:03 Colorado went from one to two to three to four.

3:06 And they got stuck with Kale Mar.

3:08 Yeah.

3:08 Right.

3:09 Like how how does So you better be careful to Frankie's point is

3:13 what you said like everybody gets all there's no Conor McDavid in this draft.

3:16 There's no Austin Matthews or Mlin Celery.

3:19 There's nobody like that in this draft.

3:21 So bottom line is you like we talk

3:23 about Toronto after everything that's happened you go, "Oh,

3:26 this is wonderful." The fan base gets excited and you'd

3:28 like to have always a fan base being excited.

3:31 But the case is is they're going to get a good player.

3:33 They're going to get a really good player at three.

3:35 Let's But let's go back to McKenna first, then we'll get to three.

3:39 Uh because you guys have both been watching World Juniors last couple years.

3:42 What are the Leafs getting in McKenna?

3:43 Well, they're getting a really dynamic, elusive playmaker.

3:47 A guy who can make plays on the ice that not everyone sees.

3:50 Like if you watch him up in the booth,

3:52 you can say I almost didn't see that coming.

3:54 Or if I really like paid attention closely, I could see it.

3:58 He sees it in real time.

3:59 And like you can speak to this, Craig,

4:01 like he got so much better in the second

4:03 half of the season coming off the World Juniors.

4:05 Like keep in mind, it's a draft eligible

4:07 that had 14 points at the World Juniors.

4:10 Maybe a quiet 14 points,

4:12 but after that, like his game continued to rise and go to another level.

4:16 Yeah.

4:16 Quiet two points a game at the World Junior.

4:18 He had one game that wasn't good

4:19 and that was against Czecha in the quarterfinal, right?

4:22 So, you know, you you you remember that that was a big game,

4:25 but nobody had a good game and everything

4:28 that that that was that the quarterfinal or was that the semiinal?

4:32 We'll check the tape.

4:32 We'll go back and check.

4:33 It was the semi-final because they won the bronze.

4:35 So, they lost the semiinal, right?

4:37 But, uh, nonetheless, he's a playmaker.

4:40 He's an elite playmaker.

4:41 He's creative.

4:42 He's imaginative.

4:43 And so, he's going to be a really good NHL player.

4:46 You know, you think about young players coming into the league,

4:48 centers, they put him on the wing to protect them.

4:51 Well, if he comes to Toronto, you know,

4:53 he's got Austin Matthews, you can carry the burden.

4:55 How many centers in the league like can

4:58 do for for a winger what Austin Matthews?

5:00 I mean, we can count them probably on one hand,

5:02 it's McDavid and McKinnon and Celibbrini and you know, you stop after that.

5:07 So, Gavin McKenna, who's going to be much better when he's 21, 22,

5:11 that's the thing.

5:12 Yeah.

5:12 He's he's not coming in right away to save the franchise.

5:15 Like there needs to be realistic expectations for the kid that like

5:19 he's not coming in as a 100 point player year two, year three.

5:23 I think it's reasonable to have higher expectations for him.

5:26 And that's what the the market in Toronto has to keep.

5:29 Well, and and I feel like the market is going to be

5:31 a little impatient because he has such a similar skill set to Mitchell Marner.

5:36 They lose Mitchell Marner.

5:37 I feel like a lot of people are going to be like,

5:38 I'll just stick him back in there.

5:39 We'll be right back to the back to the old team

5:41 that was so great for a decade in the regular season,

5:44 but it obviously doesn't always work out that way.

5:46 I just want to talk about the fact that Frankie,

5:48 you actually feel that maybe the Leafs should trade this this pick.

5:52 No, I don't think the Leafs should trade this pick.

5:56 What I think is the Leafs finally have options.

5:58 Yes.

5:59 After the season finished, it was retool or rebuild.

6:02 What do the Leafs need to do?

6:04 And if you looked at it,

6:06 you would come to the conclusion that realistically for long-term success,

6:10 they need to rebuild this thing, right?

6:12 But now, because you have the first

6:14 overall pick and you maybe have Austin Matthews,

6:16 who is undecided on whether he wants to come back or not next year,

6:20 everyone can gather in the boardroom and they can go

6:22 over the options because before this, the options were limited.

6:26 So now if you want to explore keep the pick,

6:29 trade Matthews because maybe he walks for nothing in two

6:32 years or if you want to trade the pick,

6:34 like you at least can have those conversations and they

6:38 mean something because they're tangible and they're viable at this point.

6:40 And this is especially important because in getting this draft lottery win,

6:44 the Leafs now do not have a first round

6:46 pick in 2027 or a first round pick in 2028.

6:50 They could maybe get those picks back

6:52 if you end up trading someone like Matthew.

6:54 Well, and I think now there's a responsibility within the organization, right?

6:58 Like you you you've been bailed out

7:00 by your unintentional horrible year last year.

7:03 So, you're bailed out by that.

7:05 So, now you can't do that again.

7:06 Like, you can't just show up next year because you

7:09 don't have those picks anymore for the next couple years.

7:12 So, there is a responsibility now within

7:14 the organization to actually have a good year next

7:16 year and see if they can put the right pieces in place or at least start to.

7:20 Well, we you know, Frankie, you talk about Vancouver and you know, hey,

7:23 Vancouver is like thousands of kilometers away, so why,

7:27 you know, I know they get worried about Toronto.

7:29 Worry about your own little world out there, right?

7:31 But like I I think for Toronto, not only keeping their pick,

7:35 moving up to one was significant because

7:37 the alternative to that was Boston got your pick.

7:40 Yeah.

7:40 And now Boston gets stronger, right?

7:41 So to your point, Frankie, about options for Toronto,

7:44 all of a sudden your options now have have expanded whereas you lose that pick

7:49 and now Boston's opportunities expand and now they

7:53 get a chance to move a little bit further.

7:55 It's tight.

7:56 And you know, you look at that that would have been disastrous to me.

8:01 Yeah.

8:01 For the Toronto Maples to lose the pick this year.

8:03 It it almost feels like it's like a it's a readymade retool or rebuild,

8:08 however you want to call it.

8:09 Because if you truly believe Matthews is not gonna resign

8:12 and he doesn't want to be there in the long term,

8:14 you could turn around and say, "Pick a team.

8:16 I want your top 22-year-old center.

8:19 I want your next best pro prospect and I want to pick." So now

8:22 all of a sudden you have McKenna player A and B from that organization.

8:26 You could turn around Willie Knander and say we'll do the same deal.

8:30 It'll be, you know, your best 22, 23 year old prospect and another prospect.

8:35 And now you look at it and you say, "This is the new Leafs."

8:38 And it's not only it's not only a rebuild,

8:40 then it's like an accelerated rebuild because you

8:42 got the top pick in theory like theory.

8:45 Be careful.

8:46 You're not getting McDavid.

8:47 You're not getting Matthew, but you got someone who's good.

8:50 Put the brakes on here.

8:52 Put the brakes on here.

8:53 Be careful.

8:53 Matthew Schaer, we saw what he did.

8:55 They didn't make the playoffs.

8:57 No, that's fair.

8:58 But I I don't know if that's the best

8:59 thing for the Islanders right now anyway, right?

9:01 Not having Matthew Schaefer.

9:03 No, Craig.

9:03 Not making the playoffs.

9:05 No, it isn't.

9:05 But that my point is that the Toronto Maple Leafies have a lot of holes.

9:09 Yeah.

9:10 So what Frankie is talking about right here is

9:12 exactly what Jim Rutherford did with the Vancouver Conucks.

9:15 He traded Quinn.

9:16 He got Zulliam.

9:17 Top player in the blue liner.

9:19 Got Liam Ogrren.

9:20 Got Marco Rossy.

9:21 So that's that when you're talking about this level of play,

9:24 that's what and a first round pick.

9:25 That's what you got to do.

9:26 That that's the options.

9:28 That's there's the template right there.

9:31 Well, and Craig, you have in your mock draft,

9:33 and we're going to take a look at it right now.

9:35 Car's going to show it to us.

9:37 Caleb Malhotra, who is just firing up draft boards,

9:41 including your own Craig at number three to the Canucks.

9:45 Lot of talk about Manny maybe being their next coach.

9:48 Like, it seems like beautiful synergy and and a nice

9:52 con not even a consolation prize, Craig.

9:54 It just seems like a great a great pick for them.

9:56 Do you agree?

9:57 You can't win in this league without good centers.

10:00 Yes.

10:00 And Ivar Stenberg's really good,

10:01 but the margin between Caleb Mahaltra and and uh

10:05 Ivar Stenberg is as thin as thin as thin.

10:08 And one's a winger and one's a center.

10:10 If I got a choice that's that close, I'm taking the center all day long.

10:13 And I think that Caleb Motra is a complete two-way competitive skilled center.

10:18 And that's exactly what they need.

10:20 Much like I just talked about Colorado,

10:22 how they ended up with Macar, this could be the silver lining, right?

10:25 like for the Vancouver Conucks.

10:28 What do you think, Frankie?

10:30 Well, it's interesting because looking at all

10:32 the mock drafts and how everyone had things ranked, it was going to be wingers,

10:36 then it was was going to be a run on D, and then you you said to yourself,

10:40 so they're not going to pick a center until the seventh overall pick.

10:43 It like there there's I don't know if

10:45 everyone's going to go for that realistically, right?

10:48 Someone someone's going to step up and say, "Wait a second,

10:51 we're not going to take the best center

10:53 in the draft in the top five." Of course we are.

10:55 Look at all the teams around the NHL that are sitting there saying,

10:58 "Would love to have a second line center right now." And maybe you're

11:02 not drafting that player with the hopes that he's your second line center,

11:05 but you hope he's an elite enough player

11:07 on your team that he can play in your top six.

11:10 So, I don't know why so many teams would let that go by and just say

11:14 we're content with wingers and D until we

11:16 get to the seventh or eighth overall pick.

11:18 Let's take a look at Craig's uh second kind of page of the mock draft.

11:22 It's the Flames who fall to six.

11:25 Craig, I was just talking to you about this off camera.

11:28 I love you putting Carson Carl in Calgary like a team of great young players.

11:35 You just had another one.

11:36 I know you're super high on him.

11:37 Talk to me about number eight, Craig.

11:39 Is that like that's what you would do if

11:41 you were Kevin Chevel Day off at number eight?

11:43 No, I wouldn't.

11:44 I I would be doing I would be turning over every stone

11:47 to to explore getting a second line center for that eighth pick.

11:51 right now.

11:52 If you if if he can't get get it done,

11:55 okay, then I think Ty Lawrence is a good solid player.

11:58 Second, that's what I see him as.

12:01 But if I'm Kevin Shel, hey, you remember what Connor Halabuk said and we just

12:05 go look at the birth certificates on Connor Hobbuck,

12:08 Mark Shley, Josh Morrisy, Kyle Connor, and where that team is at.

12:11 Yeah.

12:11 Like Tina Lawrence is two, three years away.

12:14 That's under like best case scenarios.

12:16 Yeah.

12:16 Right.

12:16 his objective there in Winnipeg should be solely to turn over

12:20 every stone to find a second line center with that eighth pick.

12:24 And I think with with the Jets,

12:25 it always goes without saying they have to hit on these picks

12:28 if they're going to if they're going to make the selections, right?

12:31 So to Craig's point, if you know you can bring in someone that is

12:34 bonafideed at that position and gives your team a boost,

12:38 like you have the best one of the best goalies in the league every single year.

12:42 You have a, you know, top-notch first line center.

12:45 You have a number one defenseman in Josh Morrisy.

12:48 You have a lot of pieces there.

12:49 You do, but they that was a big void not having

12:52 a true second line center that could drive that line, especially when Eers left.

12:56 He was doing that from the wing for a long time.

12:59 Yeah, for sure.

12:59 Guys, well, it was a void.

13:01 It was a void that took him

13:02 from President's Trophy winners down to the playoffs.

13:04 And these guys that we just that you just talked about the four, you know,

13:08 nobody talks about the core four in Winnipeg, but Hella Buck Morrisy,

13:11 Connor, and Shaley, they're a core four for the Winnipeg Jets.

13:14 They're getting up there.

13:16 Yeah, their window.

13:17 The time is now.

13:18 Bingo.

13:18 There's the word right there.

13:19 The time is now.

13:20 It's not talking about a draft pick that might help you in three years time.

13:24 But Connor Halabuck and Sha, they don't want to hear about that.

13:27 Well, I love I love trades at the draft, guys.

13:29 Ah, you got me excited.

13:31 This is fun, fellas.

13:32 Stop by again anytime the Leafs win the lottery.

13:36 Anytime.