Toronto Maple Leafs: Re-Grading the Team's Last 5 1st-Round Draft Picks

The 2013 edition of the NHL draft is just four days away, and this season will see the Toronto Maple Leafs choosing at No. 21 overall (barring any trades, of course).

Before the spectacle begins, however, let's take this opportunity to look back at the Leafs' five most recent first-round draft picks and re-grade the selections.

2008: 5th Overall, Luke Schenn, D

In 2008, the Toronto Maple Leafs headed into the draft armed with the seventh overall selection.

Cliff Fletcher (the Leafs general manager at the time) wanted to move up and packaged the seventh overall pick, a second-rounder and a third-round draft pick to move up to No. 5 overall.

With that pick, the Leafs chose the highly touted defensive defenseman Luke Schenn.

Fast forward five years, and Schenn is gone, now playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, thanks to a deal that saw James van Riemsdyk head to Toronto.

Unfortunately for Schenn, he never really found his footing in Toronto and just couldn't live up to the expectation of shutting down the opposition's top line.

He did, however, eat plenty of minutes and use his size to knock the opposition around.

Grade: C-

2009: 7th Overall, Nazem Kadri, C

In 2009, the Leafs once again entered the draft with the seventh overall pick.

This time, they elected to keep the pick and select Nazem Kadri, who was deemed to be an incredible talent.

After two seasons, though, Leafs fans began to get impatient with his development, and many were starting to draw parallels to the wasted pick that was Luke Schenn from the previous year.

Thankfully, Kadri had one heck of a breakout season in 2013, posting 44 points in 48 games, as well as four points in seven postseason appearances.

Vindication is the name of the game right now for the 22-year-old London, Ontario, native.

Grade: A-

2011: 22nd Overall, Tyler Biggs, RW

After having dealt away their own first-round picks in 2010 and 2011, the Leafs sat out the initial round in 2010.

In 2011, GM Brian Burke wouldn't sit around any longer.

Not only did he acquire another team's first-round pick, he went out and snagged two.

The first of the two first-rounders was the 22nd overall selection, which saw the team pick up Tyler Biggs.

After playing college hockey in Ohio in 2011-12, Biggs completed his first season in the OHL this year with the Oshawa Generals, racking up 53 points in 60 games.

Biggs was also able to register one goal in four games at the end of the season with the Toronto Marlies, which is where he'll probably start out next year.

While Biggs hasn't really been a disappointment in his development, the fact that the Leafs used a first-round pick on a player that projects to be a third-line, physical forward bumps the grade of this pick down.

Grade: B-

2011: 25th Overall, Stuart Percy, D

The second of the two first-rounders that Brian Burke dealt for in 2011 was the 25th overall selection.

With that pick, the Leafs opted to draft defenseman Stuart Percy of the Missassauga Steelheads.

Currently their captain, Percy registered 45 points in 68 games, while posting a player rating of minus-eight (keep in mind, the team as a whole had a minus-32 goal differential).

Percy—like Biggs—finished off his 2012-13 campaign by joining the Toronto Marlies, where he was able to tally three points in four games and a player rating of minus-one.

Percy may not be the top defensive prospect in the Leafs system, but he still appears to be a promising young talent.

Grade: B+

2012: 5th Overall, Morgan Rielly, D

The 2012 draft saw the Leafs return to the top five, and once again, the team drafted a defenseman.

This time, though, they went for a smaller, faster, puck-handling defenseman in Morgan Rielly.

After posting 18 points in 18 games in an injury-shortened season during the 2011-12 campaign, Rielly followed that up with 54 points in 60 games this year for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL.

Rielly then played 14 games for the AHL's Toronto Marlies, where he posted three points and a player rating of minus-one.

There is no doubt that Rielly is the future on the Leafs blue line.

Along with fellow youngster Jake Gardiner, Toronto has an incredibly promising duo to build around.

Grade: A

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