TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 18: Timothy Liljegren #37 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates in his 1st NHL game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Arena on January 18, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blackhawks defeated the Maple Leafs 6-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
The Toronto Maple Leafs poor drafting has been the cornerstone of their failure for the last 40 or so years.
Even once the Toronto Maple Leafs started to keep and use their high picks, the almost unimaginable failure of Mark Hunter’s drafts after the first round have hurt their abilities to navigate the salary cap and ice a successful team.