Toronto Maple Leafs: Looking Back at the 2010 NHL Draft

For Toronto, the biggest news coming out of the 2010 NHL entry draft was not about any of the draft picks GM Brian Burke did make, but about what pick the Maple Leafs did not get the chance to use.

This was, of course, the first of the two first-round draft picks that Toronto sent off to the Boston Bruins in order to acquire young American sniper Phil Kessel.

What has made this trade the most controversial of the Brian Burke era, however, is that the 2010 first-rounder ended up being a second overall pick.

This article, though, will look at and evaluate the picks Toronto did keep and use in 2010.

2nd Round

Without a pick in the first or second rounds thanks to the trade made for Phil Kessel, Toronto GM Brian Burke elected to make another move that sent prospect Jimmy Hayes to Chicago for the 43rd overall selection in 2010.

With that pick, Burke drafted Portland Winterhawks gritty left-winger Brad Ross, hoping that he would become an agitating depth player in a few years.

Having just wrapped up his final season playing junior hockey, Ross scored 82 points in 68 games at the age of 19 (Ross is now 20 years old), amassing over 160 penalty minutes along the way.

At this point, the Maple Leafs should be pleased with the youngster's progression. They should have a better opportunity to assess Ross' talent when he makes the jump to professional hockey this coming season.

Verdict: Great pick by Brian Burke at No. 43 overall. Ross is on pace to become just the player Burke and head coach Randy Carlyle like, and he could even provide some third-line offensive production as well.

3rd Round

The third round of the 2010 draft saw the Leafs choose twice, at pick No. 62, and then again at pick No. 79.

With those picks, Toronto selected Erie Otters center Greg McKegg and his fellow Otter Sondre Olden.

Despite scoring 37 goals and putting up 85 points in just 67 games for the Erie Otters as a 17-year-old, McKegg slipped all the way to the third round, where the Maple Leafs scooped him up at pick No. 62.

With McKegg being just 6'0" and 185 pounds, the knock on the St. Thomas, Ontario, native has been that he may not be big enough to make a living playing pro hockey.

McKegg, though, hasn't done anything but improve, marking nearly 50 goals in 2010-11 and then being a point-per-game player on an absolutely dreadful Erie team this season before being dealt to the London Knights and excelling with them as well.

As for Sondre Olden, the young Norwegian winger managed to post 32 points in 48 games in his first season in North America.

While his player rating may have been slightly exaggerated by the utter incompetence of Erie's team, minus-40 is still a bit too hard to swallow for Leafs fans.

Verdict: Great round for Brian Burke and company. Greg McKegg seems intent on proving the skeptics wrong, while Sondre Olden had a decent season offensively in his first North American hockey season.

4th Round

With the 116th overall choice in 2010, Burke elected to draft a young Swedish defenseman named Petter Granberg.

After spending the last three seasons in his native Sweden, Granberg recently signed an entry-level contract with the Leafs and will, in all likelihood, play with the Marlies next season so Toronto can gauge just what they've got on their hands.

Verdict: Average pick. Granberg signing an entry-level contract to play in North America is the first step towards making this pick a success.

5th Round

Toronto had another two picks in 2010's fifth round, at Nos. 144 and 146.

Their first pick of the fifth round ended up being Brampton Battalion center and hometown boy Sam Carrick.

Carrick hasn't exactly lit up the OHL, tallying 169 points in his 254 career games, but he's the type of project that you use a fifth-round pick on.

Toronto's other fifth-round selection in 2010 was Swedish left-winger Daniel Brodin, who has spent the last few years playing for Djurgardens IF Stockholm of the Swedish Elite League.

Over the course of the last two seasons, Brodin has only accumulated 20 points in 97 games, and if he wants to play some day for the Toronto Maple Leafs, he'll need to bulk up and hit the 190-pound mark (he currently weighs in at just 172 pounds).

Verdict: Decent fifth round. Two project players who may, one day, surprise us all.

7th Round

Toronto's final pick in the 2010 NHL entry draft came at No. 182 overall, when they selected right-wing prospect Josh Nicholls, of the Saskatoon Blades.

The Leafs elected to take a chance on the young Nicholls, despite the fact that he only managed 73 points in 134 WHL games.

After becoming a Maple Leafs prospect, Nicholls would not disappoint, scoring 87 points in 71 games the following season, at the age of 18.

This season, Nicholls only played in 56 games, but was still able to rack up 68 points.

Hopefully for Leafs fans, Nicholls is able to make the jump to the professional leagues and potentially become the next Carl Gunnarsson for the Leafs organization.

Verdict: Excellent pick. What appeared to be a project pick has turned into a surprisingly successful seventh-rounder.

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