Leafs intrigued by prospect of landing Matthews

Auston Matthews will be on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ mind for the next few weeks. The Leafs will have a 20 per cent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick at the NHL draft lottery on April 30. It’s been 31 years since the club picked first at the draft and are guaranteed the best odds of doing so again this summer after a last-place season. Matthews, a six-foot-two American centre, is expected to be picked first by whichever club ends up winning the first overall selection.

“He’s a big, talented guy,” Toronto head coach Mike Babcock said of Matthews. “But all we know for sure is that we have an 80 per cent chance of not being in on that pick. We know we’re going to get a top-four pick, that’s all we know and we’re going to be ecstatic with whoever we get. “Some young man’s going to be fortunate to get to be a Leaf.” A member of the U.S. national team development program for three seasons, Matthews spent this past year in the Swiss Hockey League, scoring 24 goals and 46 points in 36 games for Zurich. He would join a promising pool of young talent in Toronto, fronted by the last two top Leafs picks - 19-year-old William Nylander and 18-year-old Mitchell Marner - the latter starring for the London Knights this season. “Well, I think when you’re in our situation, you’re excited about every draft,” Leafs team president Brendan Shanahan said.

“The odds are stacked against us that we’ll pick first, we understand that.” Though in ownership of the best odds, teams with the worst record don’t always end up landing the No. 1 overall pick at the lottery. The last four teams to finish last did not up not picking first, including the Buffalo Sabres last year. It was the Edmonton Oilers, who had the third-worst record overall, that landed Connor McDavid with the first overall selection in 2015. The Maple Leafs can pick no lower than fourth overall and the club currently has 11 other picks beyond their first selection, including an additional first round pick acquired from Pittsburgh in the trade that sent Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh last summer.