TLN Roundtable: With The First Overall Pick…
By Shawn Reis
7 years agoWith the draft just one week away(!!!), our attention today turns back to where it all began: the first overall pick.
April 30th was a special day full of happiness, celebration, and some grade A trolling. For a fanbase of a team that has gone through so much crap over the years, to see that final card turned over with the new Maple Leafs on it was a trigger of pure joy.
But it wasn’t long before the media started spinning the narrative.
Should the Leafs actually take Auston Matthews first overall? Is he the best player in the draft? What about Patrik Laine? OH MY GOD YOU GUYS, LOOK AT THOSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS STATS!!!
It’s been a long and oftentimes annoying ride, getting from April 30th up to today, the proverbial eve of the draft.
So today we ask the question one more time:
It’s a week before draft day. Has your mind changed from lottery night to tonight on what you’d do with the #1 pick?
RYAN HOBART
No. That’s the short answer. The long answer
goes something like this. If you do trade the #1 pick, one of two things
needs to be taking place. 1) you need to get, in return, enough
expected future value out of your haul as you might get from Auston
Matthews. The easiest place to start would be to ask how much future
value do you need to add to Patrik Laine to equal Auston Matthews. Or,
2) you have to get enough current value to justify a philosophy change.
Thinking about all the quality pieces that are available right now (all
the goalies, Anaheim’s defense, Colorado’s Barrie and Duchene,
Edmonton’s big 3, etc.), I would consider using Auston Matthews to
acquire no less than 2 of those. But it can’t stop there. If you’re throwing it together, you’re throwing it all
together. Trade Marner, trade Nylander, package other prospects
together. It’s a complete philosophy change, and the only way to do it
is to do it completely. If you trade the #1 pick for established
players, your new philosophy is to win the Stanley Cup right now. So you
do everything you can to get there. Two of the above listed players is a
return I could entertain, but only if the whole philosophy changes
(i.e. Marner and Nylander go too). The marginal possibility of being
able to amass all the really good pieces on the market is really
enticing, enough to consider trading the #1. All that said, the
likelihood of these returns being worthwhile is marginal at best, so I’d
much rather stay the course. So again, I’m a no.
goes something like this. If you do trade the #1 pick, one of two things
needs to be taking place. 1) you need to get, in return, enough
expected future value out of your haul as you might get from Auston
Matthews. The easiest place to start would be to ask how much future
value do you need to add to Patrik Laine to equal Auston Matthews. Or,
2) you have to get enough current value to justify a philosophy change.
Thinking about all the quality pieces that are available right now (all
the goalies, Anaheim’s defense, Colorado’s Barrie and Duchene,
Edmonton’s big 3, etc.), I would consider using Auston Matthews to
acquire no less than 2 of those. But it can’t stop there. If you’re throwing it together, you’re throwing it all
together. Trade Marner, trade Nylander, package other prospects
together. It’s a complete philosophy change, and the only way to do it
is to do it completely. If you trade the #1 pick for established
players, your new philosophy is to win the Stanley Cup right now. So you
do everything you can to get there. Two of the above listed players is a
return I could entertain, but only if the whole philosophy changes
(i.e. Marner and Nylander go too). The marginal possibility of being
able to amass all the really good pieces on the market is really
enticing, enough to consider trading the #1. All that said, the
likelihood of these returns being worthwhile is marginal at best, so I’d
much rather stay the course. So again, I’m a no.
SHAWN REIS
This is a silly question. What kind of
question is this? The Leafs should take the guy who’s probably a future first-line center.
End of story.
question is this? The Leafs should take the guy who’s probably a future first-line center.
End of story.
RYAN FANCEY
My mind hasn’t changed since the draft
lottery. The Leafs need to hold the pick and just select Matthews. From a
hockey standpoint that’s a no-brainer. But even beyond that, the optics
of doing anything otherwise would be poor for this management crew.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know this group doesn’t care about optics,
but it’s worth noting that doing anything other than drafting the
franchise center is going to make people angry, and I’d be able to
sympathize. Hell, I’d be one of them. To put the fans through a
dead-last-place season, then have the major high of winning the draft
lottery, then flick the switch back and decide to move down and take a
couple prospects who’ll go back to junior for a year or two is just not
something that can happen. Make the pick, sell the jerseys, put Matthews
in the lineup on opening night, and let’s get on with it.
lottery. The Leafs need to hold the pick and just select Matthews. From a
hockey standpoint that’s a no-brainer. But even beyond that, the optics
of doing anything otherwise would be poor for this management crew.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know this group doesn’t care about optics,
but it’s worth noting that doing anything other than drafting the
franchise center is going to make people angry, and I’d be able to
sympathize. Hell, I’d be one of them. To put the fans through a
dead-last-place season, then have the major high of winning the draft
lottery, then flick the switch back and decide to move down and take a
couple prospects who’ll go back to junior for a year or two is just not
something that can happen. Make the pick, sell the jerseys, put Matthews
in the lineup on opening night, and let’s get on with it.
JESS PINCENTE
No.
DOM LUSZCZYSZYN
Same.
—
There you have it folks, it’s unanimous.
See you next week Auston.
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