The Leafs were busy throughout the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft, led by GM Brad Treliving and director of amateur scouting Wes Clark. While the pace of transactions will be brisk until early July, we took a moment to poll our readers on how they felt the Leafs did in manoeuvring the 1st round of the draft.
Excellent: 10%
While this option finishes fourth in our poll, there is still a good portion of voters who were ecstatic about the Leafs work in the first round. The Leafs acquired an extra draft asset to trade down, which is solid news for a team scarce on draft capital. On top of this, the Leafs took Ben Danford, who not only fits their primary organizational need for right-shot defensive defencemen, but might well have been the player they would have selected had they stayed at 23rd overall.
There is a clear line of thinking that could lead one to believe that the Leafs deserve top marks for their work in the first round. Naturally, this hinges on Danford panning out, but the Leafs drafting under Wes Clark does warrant some added enthusiasm. Danford has a lot to work with, skating, size, defensive ability, functional offensive upside, and relentless competitiveness and pro style. This elusive concept of competitiveness and hockey sense has served many of the Leafs recent draft selections well, including the likes of Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten.
Very good: 41%
Many fans stopped short of a home-run rating, but likely shared in evaluations of the clear positives in the Leafs work. Leading our poll, many Leafs faithful were pleased with the proceedings of the draft’s opening night. Without high-end draft capital, this might be the best anyone to feel about the Leafs work, as such high appraisals of draft work is often reserved for those in the draft lottery.
It is reasonable not to have too strong of a take, especially considering the Leafs status as an aspiring contender. It is natural that opinions surrounding the Leafs work through upcoming trades and signings will be stronger and more polarised. Leading this poll is a sense of soft contentment across Leaf Nation, surely a solid place to be after one of the biggest nights on the NHL calendar.
Fine: 36%
Voters who felt the Leafs did fine might have come to this conclusion for a number of different reasons. Perhaps the fact that the Leafs have more pressing needs in the present takes away from much-heated judgement in a distant future. The players drafted, even in the first round, are still years away from truly helping the Leafs on the ice at the best of times. Further still, these players’ development from here is as important as their development up until this point, draft winners and losers will reveal themselves to all over time.
On top of this, there is an element of opportunity cost when trading down. The player selected with the Leafs original 23rd overall pick, Stian Solberg, is highly thought of. Solberg is physical, daring offensively, and played well for Norway in the World Championship just a few weeks ago. There will likely be other quality NHLers who develop out of the picks between Solberg and Danford as well. This should only matter so much, as entirely prescient navigation of a draft is an impossibly high bar to clear.
Poor: 13%
Fans are entirely entitled to their opinions, and a portion of voters clearly feel that the Leafs did poorly on draft night. Some of this might stem from elsewhere, as the Leafs lack of postseason success has soured many on their organizational apparatus as a whole. In the eyes of some, there might be nothing that can be done off the ice to redeem the Brendan Shanahan era. The Leafs are a popular target from all corners of the league, and the team has not achieved enough on the ice to reward their fans’ belief.
On the other hand, fans might have felt poorly because of more specific reasons. Danford was not a unanimous first round pick heading into the draft. Just as well, these fans might have set their sights on another specific outcome. Perhaps they will end up being right, but that does not necessarily mean that a different plan is entirely wrong. At the end of the day we know how the draft went, but only time will reveal how the draft goes.
