The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t turned a late-round draft pick into a star player this century.
The last player who the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted outside of the first round who went onto be a star player was Tomas Kaberle.
Kaberle was taken in the 8th round of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft and went on to play almost 1000 games in the NHL, and is one of the best Leafs defenseman of all-time.
Kaberle is an icon for Leafs fans of a certain age, but he’s also symbolic of something the Leafs have been unable to do now for almost 20 years – fluke into a star player outside of the top of the draft.