He hasn't been with us long but already Leaf fans are questioning Hunter's draft record. I think it is a touch early but let us examine the standard. As I recall, the GM Dave Holland of powerful Detroit once said " You want to draft 2 or 3 players per year." Let us first assume a bust is a player who will never play in the NHL with any significance unless he is a first rounder, in which case the standard becomes a top 9 forward, a top 4 defenseman or a starting NHL goalie. The average prospect must be given 3 to 4 years to mature and develop and it is often longer with defensemen and goaltenders. As such, it is too early to clearly judge Hunter and his work but let us give it a try. He started his legacy at the 2015 NHL draft, where the rumours were Hunter and Babcock disagreed on Marner versus much vaunted defenseman such as Hannifin, Provorov and Werenski. As history shows Hunter was GM of the London Knights and covered in sweat and consternation took Marner that day due to being convinced he had an NHL star player and that like his older brother, Marner might have a growth spurt upto 6ft 2 inches. Marner became an NHL player one year later but never grew much. Hunter then traded the next first round pick Konecny to Philly and turned it into Dermott, Bracco and Dzerkials. Later in the draft he took Timashov who is progressing in the AHL with the Marlies but is a darkhorse prospect. Dermott is Toronto's top defensive player in the AHL and is seeing time in the NHL at present. He has played well and looks to develop into a top 4 defensive dman who can skate, pass and hit with some flair for offense. So in 2015, Hunter came up with Marner and Dermott, a success. Hunter also took small but skilled forward Jeremy Bracco who was snubbed by WJC Team USA. He is getting more comfortable in the AHL as the season progresses but it is hard to see how he will squeak into the Leaf line up due to size and a plethora of skilled wingers in the Leaf system.
Fast forward to 2016. The last place team, wait for it... won the lottery ! The Leafs had a hole at centre since the departure of Sundin. The race was down to an American Auston Mathews and a huge scoring winger Patrick Laine from Finland. Hunter made the right choice for Toronto but likely had orders to take Mathews from high above. He then surprised by taking Korshkov an overaged big, skating Russian winger who had been passed over in other drafts as the first pick in the 2nd round. The reports are he may one day help replace the likes of JVR but at this time he needs to show his game in North America as is rumoured that he will do so next year. Hunter then took Swedish winger Grundstrom, who to me looks a perfect top 6/9 banging in your face, scoring winger who could play with Mathews down the line. Next was an American goalie named Woll. Woll played for the US at the World Junior Championships in 2017 and played well but was hammered on badly in a loss making some wonder about his number one abilities at the NHL level. In the 3rd he also took big skating defenseman Greenway from College. Greenway missed much of this season with personal issues.
In the 4th round, Hunter took centre Adam Brooks a smallish, high point WHL center with leadership tags on him. Brooks is currently playing with the AHL Toronto Marlies, slowly adapting to playing against men.
Finally in 2017, with the parting of the Red Sea, top prospect Timothy Liljegren got mono. and bounced from team to team in Sweden falling to 17th overall. The Swedish defenseman has adapted quickly as an 18 year old in the AHL and played as a top 3 defenseman on Sweden's WJC silver team which starred Dahlin, this years top prospect. He accounted himself well and is still progressing with the Marlies with 1 goal 9 assists for 10 pts. in 19 games. At this time many consider him one of the top 10 prospects owned by an NHL team. The second pick was Rasanen a 6ft 7 inch, Finnish defenseman playing in the OHL . Rasanen is garnering comparisons to gulp... Chris Pronger! He was invited to play for Finland at the WJC but didn't play much. Currently he is contributing offensively at the OHL level and provides a booming shot from the point. As many big men , he needs to grow into his frame and work on his skating to make the NHL.
In the 3 years Hunter has been leading the draft in Toronto he has taken : Marner,Dermott,Mathews,Grundstrom,Liljegren who are players who I feel strongly either are or will play in the NHL making contributions of significance. There is a good chance Korshkov and/ or Rasanen will play at the NHL level but it is too early since neither is at the AHL level yet. Hunter has some long odders in Bracco, Brooks, Woll, Timashov but other than that nothing yet to point at in the later rounds. No Connor Brown or Andreas Johnsson hiding in there. Hunter has gone from smallish,skill upfront(2015) to size and defense(2016,2017), using later picks to take goalies such as Scott in the 4th round last year. I think Hunter has found 6 NHL players in his first 3 drafts. His darkhorses are there but haven't shown enough to get prospect analyzers excited. Hunter may also have had some influence from upstairs on draft philopshy in certain years such as drafting size, big defensemen etc. Hunter has fulfilled the minimum requirements while having high picks but his later round drafting looks soft at this time. Given he has provided Toronto with Mathews, Marner, Liljegren, Dermott as well as Grundstrom, Rasanen. I have to give him a grade of B provided Korshkov or even Bracco makes the NHL. At year 3 it is hard to accurately judge Hunter's work, especially compared to the work of Steve Yzerman in Tampa Bay but he has provided a stream of prospects so far, while opting to use late rounders on goalies and big defenseman who take much longer to develop. If Korshkov does score 20 goals one day and just a single darkhorse pick pans out from these 3 drafts then history will remember Hunter well, as his critics will always point to that one Parayko who slipped by him and every other GM. We await Korshkov and Rasanen to hand in any final grades. Even Lou said " five years" and in a way that is the true standard.
With the announcement of Kyle Dubas as new GM , on May 21st 2018 Hunter has moved on leaving Marner as his mark. Thanks Mark best of luck.
Fast forward to 2016. The last place team, wait for it... won the lottery ! The Leafs had a hole at centre since the departure of Sundin. The race was down to an American Auston Mathews and a huge scoring winger Patrick Laine from Finland. Hunter made the right choice for Toronto but likely had orders to take Mathews from high above. He then surprised by taking Korshkov an overaged big, skating Russian winger who had been passed over in other drafts as the first pick in the 2nd round. The reports are he may one day help replace the likes of JVR but at this time he needs to show his game in North America as is rumoured that he will do so next year. Hunter then took Swedish winger Grundstrom, who to me looks a perfect top 6/9 banging in your face, scoring winger who could play with Mathews down the line. Next was an American goalie named Woll. Woll played for the US at the World Junior Championships in 2017 and played well but was hammered on badly in a loss making some wonder about his number one abilities at the NHL level. In the 3rd he also took big skating defenseman Greenway from College. Greenway missed much of this season with personal issues.
In the 4th round, Hunter took centre Adam Brooks a smallish, high point WHL center with leadership tags on him. Brooks is currently playing with the AHL Toronto Marlies, slowly adapting to playing against men.
Finally in 2017, with the parting of the Red Sea, top prospect Timothy Liljegren got mono. and bounced from team to team in Sweden falling to 17th overall. The Swedish defenseman has adapted quickly as an 18 year old in the AHL and played as a top 3 defenseman on Sweden's WJC silver team which starred Dahlin, this years top prospect. He accounted himself well and is still progressing with the Marlies with 1 goal 9 assists for 10 pts. in 19 games. At this time many consider him one of the top 10 prospects owned by an NHL team. The second pick was Rasanen a 6ft 7 inch, Finnish defenseman playing in the OHL . Rasanen is garnering comparisons to gulp... Chris Pronger! He was invited to play for Finland at the WJC but didn't play much. Currently he is contributing offensively at the OHL level and provides a booming shot from the point. As many big men , he needs to grow into his frame and work on his skating to make the NHL.
In the 3 years Hunter has been leading the draft in Toronto he has taken : Marner,Dermott,Mathews,Grundstrom,Liljegren who are players who I feel strongly either are or will play in the NHL making contributions of significance. There is a good chance Korshkov and/ or Rasanen will play at the NHL level but it is too early since neither is at the AHL level yet. Hunter has some long odders in Bracco, Brooks, Woll, Timashov but other than that nothing yet to point at in the later rounds. No Connor Brown or Andreas Johnsson hiding in there. Hunter has gone from smallish,skill upfront(2015) to size and defense(2016,2017), using later picks to take goalies such as Scott in the 4th round last year. I think Hunter has found 6 NHL players in his first 3 drafts. His darkhorses are there but haven't shown enough to get prospect analyzers excited. Hunter may also have had some influence from upstairs on draft philopshy in certain years such as drafting size, big defensemen etc. Hunter has fulfilled the minimum requirements while having high picks but his later round drafting looks soft at this time. Given he has provided Toronto with Mathews, Marner, Liljegren, Dermott as well as Grundstrom, Rasanen. I have to give him a grade of B provided Korshkov or even Bracco makes the NHL. At year 3 it is hard to accurately judge Hunter's work, especially compared to the work of Steve Yzerman in Tampa Bay but he has provided a stream of prospects so far, while opting to use late rounders on goalies and big defenseman who take much longer to develop. If Korshkov does score 20 goals one day and just a single darkhorse pick pans out from these 3 drafts then history will remember Hunter well, as his critics will always point to that one Parayko who slipped by him and every other GM. We await Korshkov and Rasanen to hand in any final grades. Even Lou said " five years" and in a way that is the true standard.
With the announcement of Kyle Dubas as new GM , on May 21st 2018 Hunter has moved on leaving Marner as his mark. Thanks Mark best of luck.
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