The Toronto Maple Leafs have begun to reap the rewards of developing young talent added through the NHL draft.
Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly, Jerry D'Amigo, Carl Gunnarsson and James Reimer are Leafs draft picks that have been significant, to varying degrees, to the club's success this season.
Drafting smartly is a key way to put up the scaffolding in order for an organization to have long-term success. Given the high level of parity in the league, it's challenging to win multiple Stanley Cups in a short period of time.
The new measures of success are making the Stanley Cup playoffs consistently and going deep in the second season from time to time. While free agent signings and trading for players to meet specific needs still makes sense, great home-grown talent often marks the most successful NHL teams.
Unless they make a trade to move up, it appears that the Leafs will have a first-round pick in the 16 to 22 range, given their current standings.
Given that criterion, here are five players that are potentially great picks for the Leafs in the 2014 NHL draft.
All stats, unless otherwise noted, are from hock ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by James Onusko
2014 NHL Draft: 5 Perfect Fits for Toronto Maple Leafs
January 30th, 2014 by James Onusko Leave a reply »
Advertisement