Leafs make trades, just not big ones
No phone call is just a phone call at the NHL Draft, just as there is no such thing as a friendly aside between old friends with battle scars and matching dentures. And so it was that, for the better part of two days, such movement was noted and dissected for any trace of deeper meaning.
Brendan Shanahan has scars, and friends, and sat in perhaps the most scrutinized space in South Florida over the weekend, as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. With all that is expected of his new management team, every word was weighted with potential: Was he about to unload his captain, just then, or was he asking for a side of pickles with lunch?
The Leafs entered the draft against the backdrop of a rebuild, perhaps the first of its kind in Toronto. Shanahan admitted he had been busy fielding calls, mostly related to leading scorer Phil Kessel, a winger who many expected would be on the move.
In the end, Toronto completed three trades. None of them involved a roster player.
“If we have to come to camp, and we don’t have everything done that we wanted to get done, that’s fine as well,” Shanahan said on Saturday afternoon. “We have a great coach that we think, in a lot of ways, can help some of these guys.”
Mike Babcock, the $50-million coach, was only one part of the rebuilding process. The roster, the next step in the rebuilder’s manual, is still intact. Dion Phaneuf, Tyler Bozak, Joffrey Lupul and Kessel are among the pieces commonly named for extraction.
Heading into the draft, Shanahan emphasized the Leafs would not be rushed into making any kind of a trade. And he remains steadfast, pointing to the possibility that moves may come with the start of free agency next week. Or not.
“You know,” he said, “you need a dance partner for stuff like that.”
One reason the Leafs can look to the free agency period, which opens July 1, as another potential trade window is the quality of the field. In keeping with the grass analogy, the field contains more rough than fairway.
Defenceman Mike Green is set to become an unrestricted free agent, along with fellow defencemen Christian Ehrhoff and Johnny Oduya. There will not be much help for any team looking for forwards. Kessel, Bozak and Lupul are all forwards, of course.
“We’ll be active,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know that we will be the headline-stealers in the NHL on July 1.”
Six of the nine players Toronto drafted shared something in common, beyond their brand new jerseys: They were all shorter than six feet.
Mitch Marner, the London Knights forward taken with the fourth overall pick on Friday, is listed at 5-foot-11, 160 pounds. Travis Dermott, the Erie Otters defenceman taken 34th overall, is 5-foot-11, 197 pounds. Jeremy Bracco, the winger from Long Island the Leafs took with their third pick (61st overall) is only 5-foot-9, 173 pounds.
“We drafted a couple guys with size, it wasn’t like we were avoiding it,” Shanahan said. “But when it came time for our pick and we looked at our list, we also weren’t afraid of guys that we knew, maybe, had to go back and play a little bit and hopefully grow a little bit.”
Without getting into specifics, Shanahan said the team had some players rated to go higher, suggesting size was a reason they were still on the board when Toronto picked.
“We’re not asking them to play in the NHL next year, or the year after, or the year after that,” Shanahan said. “Some of them will grow, some of them won’t. Some of them will find a way. It’s skill that wins.”
Mark Hunter, the director of player personnel for the Leafs, put it this way: “You can’t put hockey sense in a player.”
Travis Dermott, pictured below, the first player Toronto picked on Saturday morning, had 17 points in 20 playoff games with Erie, the most among Ontario Hockey League defencemen. He is also from the Toronto suburb of Newmarket.
“He’s a huge Leafs fan,” said teammate and long-time friend Connor McDavid, who was taken first overall on Friday. “It was funny watching him and his dad when he got picked. His dad jumped right up. It was so funny. I’m so happy for him.”
According to NHL Central Scouting, the league’s in-house service, Dermott was the 46th ranked North American skater heading into the draft. The Leafs took him 34th overall.
“Very intelligent player, very good feet,” said Otters owner Sherry Bassin. “Everybody’s holding it against him about his size, but if you take a look at him, he’s a big, strong kid. In today’s game, in today’s game this guy’s going to play.”
Bracco, the smallest player Toronto drafted over the weekend, said he is used to answering questions about his size: “For me, it’s just more ammunition to be better and go to the gym every day and work harder.”
He seemed aware, though, that he was part of a trend with the Leafs.
“For me, I think it’s my play-making ability,” Bracco said. “I just try to kind of find that extra play. Sometimes, I get yelled at to shoot the puck a bit more — but I think my hockey I.Q.’s definitely the thing that separates me from a lot of guys.” While none of them were worthy of a headline, the Leafs did make three trades while on the draft floor. They traded down with their second pick of the first round, flipping pick No. 24 to Philadelphia for the 29th and 61st picks.
They then flipped that 29th pick to Columbus, for the 35th and 68th picks.
The excitement did not end there: On Saturday, Toronto sent distant prospect Brad Ross and a fourth-round pick to Edmonton for defenceman Martin Marincin.
“We had a need for more defencemen,” Shanahan said. “We think he’s a young guy, a guy with some upside.” Nothing else materialized. “I’ve been saying to everybody: I came here for the draft, this is not the trade deadline,” Shanahan said. “I think there were some discussions that were initiated here, down on the floor with teams that are still alive.”