Toronto Maple Leafs: 10 Best Draft Picks of the Last 10 Years

In the last decade, there have been draft picks that have turned into gems for the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs. There were also picks that were traded away and did better things when they were out of the hockey hotbed of southern Ontario.

When you draft in the NHL, the guys are only 18 years old, so it is sometimes difficult to examine where that player is going to be in five to 10 years.

For some of the players on this list, we have been able to examine their play for multiple years and show how beneficial they have been to the Leafs roster.

Here are the best draft picks in the last 10 years of Maple Leafs history.

10. Nazem Kadri

Selected: First Round (7th Overall) in 2009

Leafs Stats: 33 GP, 3 G, 10 A, 13 PTS

Nazem Kadri has a finesse with the puck that will be greatly beneficial to the Leafs roster in a couple years. He doesn't have much size at this point, but when it comes down to it, he is starting to gain some confidence by playing in the AHL.

He will probably get called up for a couple of games here and there this season and although he has only played a number of games in the NHL so far, he has the potential to turn heads and become a great small man winger for the blue-and-white.

Improved play right out of his draft year could've gotten him further up this list, however; as it stands now, he still has some more work to do. It's not necessarily a bad thing; he just needs more development and what better way to do that than play in the AHL for a couple of years, find a good handle for the puck, get some strength and become the top-six player the Leafs drafted him to be.

9. Ian White

Selected: Sixth Round (191st Overall) in 2002

Leafs Stats: 296 GP, 28 G, 77 A, 105 PTS

As indicated by his stats, Ian White was your classic puck-moving defenseman for the Leafs, often finding holes and stretching the ice with great passes to the forwards.

He eventually earned praise for his two-way play by getting over 25 minutes of ice time a night by the end of the 2008-09 season.

He ended up becoming part of the multi-man deal with Calgary on January 31, 2010 that brought Dion Phaneuf over to the Leafs. Although White wasn't exactly the centerpiece of the deal, his great play made him an asset in the minds of Flames management and the trade went through.

Another piece of that trade is later in the article (just a spoiler), but White goes down the list because of his struggles following his departure from the Leafs organization.

8. Alexander Steen

Selected: First Round (24th Overall) in 2002

Leafs Stats: 253 GP, 50 G, 76 A, 126 PTS

Alex Steen played for the Leafs for four seasons and for the most part, he was a great asset, even logging some minutes with Mats Sundin.

Although Steen had a lot of upside in the Leafs organization, it wasn't until he was traded to St. Louis that he became a legitimate threat, becoming a consistent 20-goal scorer for the Blues.

His best year with the Leafs was his rookie year, when he posted 18 goals and 45 points.

His value no longer shines with the Leafs due to the fact that who the Leafs got for him (and Carlo Colaiacovo) no longer plays for the blue and white. For those of you who don't know who that is, it's Lee Stempniak, who was a bust for the Leafs and was subsequently traded to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Anyway, Steen makes this list for his skill but is low on the list due to his inability to reach the potential he is at now while wearing the Maple Leaf.

7. Matt Frattin

Selected: Fourth Round (99th Overall) in 2007

Leafs Stats: 22 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS

There is nothing wrong with taking the college route to hone your skills and become a full-time NHL player. Matt Frattin is the very definition of how to move up in the ranks by playing through college.

As a member of the University of North Dakota, Frattin gained experience and in his final year of college, putting up 36 goals and 24 assists. His skill him a nomination for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top NCAA hockey player.

He is now showing the skill to be a full-time NHL player and is a testament to what the college route can do for one's skill. For the fans' sake, he will keep going with his development and deliver great goals like this video on a regular basis.

6. Kyle Wellwood

Selected: Fifth Round (134th Overall) in 2001

Leafs Stats: 188 GP, 31 G, 77 A, 108 PTS

As a rookie, Kyle Wellwood was thrown into the Leafs spotlight when Mats Sundin went down with an eye injury in the first game of the 2005-06 season, centering the top line while the Leaf captain was out of action.

Wellwood had a great rookie year, posting a (to date) career high 45 points, but has fallen off the wagon, as he has moved around the world to play, including a stint in the KHL.

He currently plays for the Winnipeg Jets but hasn't achieved the kind of individual success he had when he was with the Leafs.

He is on this list for said Leaf success but is down on the list due to his inconsistent play as he developed and continues to develop into the NHL game.

5. Carl Gunnarsson

Selected: Seventh Round (194th Overall) in 2007

Leafs Stats: 134 GP, 7 G, 34 A, 41 PTS

Carl Gunnarsson is one of those gem players you find deep in the draft. As late has he went, he has developed into a sizable opponent for any top line in the NHL.

Often teaming up with some of the better players on the roster like Luke Schenn and captain Dion Phaneuf, Gunnarsson is showing that his development in the Swedish league matured him as a hockey player.

With the depth that the Leafs have at defense, Gunnarsson remains a constant on the blue line and although he doesn't have the offensive flair down pat, he is still a large body that Brian Burke loves to have.

4 Matt Stajan

Selected: Second Round (57th Overall) in 2002

Leafs Stats: 445 GP, 87 G, 136 A, 223 PTS

Matt Stajan was a mainstay on the Leafs roster for much of the new millennium and was the first-line centre after Mats Sundin left.

Stajan used crafty stick-handling to get the puck into the dirty areas for his linemates, Alex Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov.

Although the team wasn't as successful as Stajan would've hoped, he was usually one of the top scorers on the team during his tenure with the Leafs.

His play caught the eye of the Calgary Flames and he was packaged in a deal that brought Dion Phaneuf to Toronto.

Stajan is continuing his play as the only player left from the Phaneuf trade to be on the Flames' roster.

He was an ironman for the Leafs organization, playing at least 80 games in three of his six full seasons with Toronto, and played 82 games split between Toronto and Calgary in 2009-10.

3. Nikolai Kulemin

Selected: Second Round (44th Overall) in 2006

Leafs Stats: 257 GP, 63 G, 72 A, 135 PTS

Nikolai Kulemin is another one of those gems. Although he didn't go as deep in the draft as Carl Gunnarsson, Kulemin has proven to be an elite sniper in the NHL, and one of the best pure goal scorers on the Leafs roster.

Last year, he joined Phil Kessel, Mats Sundin and Alex Mogilny as the only Leaf players to score 30 or more goals in a season since the 1999-2000 campaign.

You can't argue with the results as Kulemin, Clarke MacCarthur and Mikhail Grabovski make up a deadly second line, one that can be often mistaken for a first line.

Kulemin is in the final year of his two-year contract and will be wanting a raise from his $2.35M a year, depending on how he finishes here.

He is deserving of top three honours here as he continues to develop into a high-profile NHL player, one that could eclipse the 40-goal plateau one day.

2. James Reimer

Selected: Fourth Round (99th Overall) in 2006

Leafs Stats: 43 GP, 24-10-6, 2.59 GAA, .920 SV%

James Reimer emerged as a starting goaltender in the NHL last season and has looked sharp, keeping the Leafs in the playoff race deep into his rookie campaign.

This year has held up his playing time, due to a concussion suffered after a collision with Montreal's Brian Gionta.

Despite that, he is one of the Leafs' best draft picks because he is another one of those gems that you rarely find in these drafts.

When Reimer comes back, he will be looking to get his starting role back and in that, bring the Leafs to the playoffs for the first time since before the lockout.

Reimer is ranked No. 2 because of lack of playing time, which is unfortunate because he could be No. 1 if he was healthy.

1. Luke Schenn

Selected: First Round (5th Overall) in 2008

Leafs Stats: 253 GP, 12 G, 45 A, 57 PTS

Luke Schenn marked the beginning of a new era in Leafs Nation. His play as a rookie set the stage for the gritty, hard-nosed play that Brian Burke wanted in his team.

Schenn was constantly the only one sticking up for teammates in scrums and even had a fight or two to spark his team and since his arrival, the Leafs as a whole have gotten much better.

Schenn isn't usually the scoring type, but you can only imagine what it's like in the defensive zone as "The Eraser" bowls over his man or crunches him into the boards.

He was drafted higher than anyone else on this list and continues to be an excellent defensive-minded young player who has a lot more upside than downside on a Leafs roster that continues to excel.

The best is yet to come and if he can go end to end like he did in this video on a regular basis, he's going to be okay.

What do you think?

Mark Pare is a Toronto Maple Leafs Featured Columnist. You can follow him on  Twitter and don't forget to check out his sportswriter page.