Leafs are winning? Fret not fans
Because finishing last doesn’t always pay off come draft time
There are three things a Leaf fan needs to know about the tidy little win streak — five victories in six games — the club has put together as the final days of the 2015-16 season count down.
First, enjoy it for goodness sakes. It’s been a long, long, long season after all.
Second, it means virtually nothing about how the team will start next season. Zero.
Third, if the Maple Leafs do manage to crawl out of last place overall, it won’t be the unmitigated disaster some would suggest. It might make the task ahead more difficult, but it may not be a disaster at all.
Let’s go back to the final days of the 2011-12 season. Five points in the final four games bumped the Leafs to 26th overall, costing them a better chance of winning the lottery, or at least the chance to pick higher and take Ryan Murray, Griffin Reinhart or Alex Galchenyuk.
So they ended up with Morgan Rielly with the fifth pick. Gutsy, given Rielly had missed almost his entire draft season with a knee injury. But as it turned out, it wasn’t a setback at all, not like it would have been if they’d won the lottery and drafted Nail Yakupov.
But let’s dig a little deeper. Way down at No. 11 that year, the Washington Capitals selected Filip Forsberg, who was the top-ranked European player, but a player that for some reason didn’t quite appeal to the first 10 teams that picked.
Forsberg, in case you hadn’t noticed because he labours in relative anonymity for the Nashville Predators, has 31 goals this season and is an emerging star, at this point the best forward in the ’12 draft and possibly the best player.
That’s the thing about these drafts. Projecting the potential of 18-year-old hockey players is still largely an art, not a science, even in this era of analytics. Beyond that, the teams with the top picks often aren’t particularly well run or managed and make mistakes in judgment other teams capitalize upon.
So the fact the Leafs may move up in the standings shouldn’t necessarily be reason for panic, particularly if they believe they’ve assembled a strong scouting group that can identify plays that fit the direction of this team. They might miss out on Auston Matthews.
Sgt. Trevor Williamson is an 11-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. He is an aerospace control operator serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force based at 8 Wing Trenton. In 2010, he completed a three-month domestic deployment for Operation Podium, in direct support of airspace security during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games. Following this, he spent four years at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, followed by a deployment to the Middle East in 2015. Sgt. Williamson is the proud father of five-year-old daughter Rylee and is an avid golfer, hockey player and a diehard Toronto Maple Leafs fan. For every Maple Leafs home date this season, the Leafs and their alumni association are donating two tickets, jerseys, food and refreshments to members of the Canadian Forces, who will be honoured at each game.