Oh you poor, tortured souls who call yourselves Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
One day after introducing their new hockey management team at a press conference that was variously described by many in the Toronto media as bizarre, confusing and even disastrous, the Maple Leafs found a way to make it all look like rainbows and unicorns. One day later, those zany Leafs won the 2026 NHL draft lottery.
See, you long-suffering Maple Leaf fans? Everything is going to be OK. Really.
Leafs went into Tuesday’s draft lottery with the fifth-best odds of winning the first overall pick at 8.5 per cent. The Vancouver Canucks, meanwhile, had the best odds at 18.5 per cent.
Didn’t matter. Leafs got the bounce. Bingo.
Toronto’s new GM, the controversial John Chayka (formerly of the forgettable Arizona Coyotes), and newly-minted ‘senior advisor’ and former Leafs great Mats Sundin looked like, well, they looked like they’d just won the lottery. If Sundin’s smile had been any wider, his face might’ve exploded.
The only other times Toronto selected first overall in the NHL draft the Leafs hit home runs. Current team captain Auston Matthews was chosen No. 1 in 2016 and former team captain Wendel Clark was the top choice in 1985.
Matthews has his critics, especially for past playoff performances, but his production during the regular season has been among the best in the NHL during his tenure in Toronto. He is already the all-time franchise leader with 428 career goals.
Clark? Legend.
The consensus No. 1 pick heading into this year’s NHL draft is Penn State forward Gavin McKenna. At around 170 pounds, he’s no Connor McDavid, but McKenna is a dynamic playmaker who has consistently demonstrated the ability to produce serious offence at every level at which he has played.
Some members of the Toronto media are already comparing McKenna’s game to that of former Leaf Mitch Marner, now with the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Seems like a good fit.
Sundin and Chayka, of course, won’t tip their hat prior to the 2026 cattle call on June 26-27 in Buffalo, but selecting McKenna would appear to be a no-brainer. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, here’s a look back at five memorable Maple Leaf first-round selections in the NHL draft:
1969
From a Toronto perspective, the 1969 draft was notable only because the player the Maple Leafs chose at No. 9 — forward Ernie Moser — never played a single game in the NHL. Future Philadelphia Flyers great Bobby Clarke was ignored by the Leafs, and every other team in the first round, until their Western Canada scout convinced the Flyers to grab him with the fourth pick in Round 2. Talk about a steal.
NEED TO KNOW: Clarke was considered a first-round risk due to his diabetic condition. That said, Leafs still could’ve landed a rock-solid prospect with their ninth pick. Among those available were forward Ivan Boldirev (1,052 career NHL games) and defenceman Ron Stackhouse (889 career NHL games) who both went on to become stalwart big-leaguers.
1970
One year later, Leafs got it right when they chose London Knights centre and future Toronto captain and Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler with the eighth overall selection. The ’70 draft marked the entry of NHL expansion franchises in Buffalo and Vancouver, which chose Gilbert Perreault at No. 1 and Dale Tallon at No. 2, respectively.
NEED TO KNOW: From 1973-81, the classy Sittler was a model of consistency with the Leafs, never scoring fewer than 36 goals per season during that eight-year stretch. His 916 career points ranks second all-time among franchise leaders.
1985
Talk about a slam dunk. Leafs nailed the No. 1 overall pick in 1985 with the selection of future captain Wendel Clark from the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. The tough and talented Clark could do it all — check, hit, score, fight. He became one of the most popular Maple Leafs in franchise history.
NEED TO KNOW: Clark spent a dozen seasons as a Leaf, notching a career-high 46 goals during the 1993-94 NHL campaign.
1989
Not surprisingly, for a guy who covered the Belleville Bulls for 24 years, the 1989 NHL draft is among my favourites. That year, in a move that is unlikely to ever occur again, the Leafs used their three first-round selections (yes, they had three) to draft three players from the same team. The Bulls.
In order, Toronto took Bulls forwards Scott Thornton (third overall) and Rob Pearson (12th), then concluded Round 1 by nabbing Belleville defenceman and Madoc native Steve Bancroft at No. 21. Interestingly, the first overall pick that year was Sundin, who went No. 1 to the Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado Avalanche).
NEED TO KNOW: Thornton played 33 of his 941 career NHL games for Toronto. Pearson was a Leaf for three seasons. Bancroft appeared in six NHL games over the course of his 16-year professional career.
2020
Sadly, the 2020 NHL draft turned tragic in Toronto when the Leafs first-round selection, Russian forward Rodion Amirov (15th overall), later died from a brain tumour. He was 21.
NEED TO KNOW: Toronto’s Ontario rival, the Ottawa Senators, nabbed three current regulars in the opening round of the 2020 draft — forward Tim Stutzle (third overall), defenceman Jake Sanderson (fifth) and forward Ridly Greig (28th).
