Who could be available at 15th overall?

So as you know by now, the Toronto Maple Leafs swung a bit of a home run trade that got the Leafs the 15th overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft. Now, the Leafs may trade this pick as part of a package to finally get that top pairing RD we’ve longed for. But this article will look at who might be available that the Leafs should pick.

Back in June, Bob McKenzie released his final draft rankings. His rankings are interesting because it surveys NHL scouts, and is usually the most accurate in terms of how NHL teams actually pick. We can look at his rankings in the 10 to 20 range to get a good idea of who might be available.

However, we’ve also seen very good players be taken much lower than they should (even at the time of the draft) because of a variety of NHL biases on size, position, or what league the prospect had been playing in. So I will also look at a consolidated list of public rankings to find guys who some public scouts rank as potential top 10 talent that could fall to the Leafs.

Bob McKenzie:

10. Jack Quinn
11. Yaroslav Askarov
12. Anton Lundell
13. Dawson Mercer
14. Kaiden Guhle
15. Hendrix Lapierre
16. Dylan Holloway
17. Braden Schneider
18. Seth Jarvis
19. Rodion Amirov
20. Lukas Reichel

Public rankings:

10. Yaroslav Askarov
11. Jake Sanderson
12. Seth Jarvis
13. Jack Quinn
14. Noel Gunler
15. Rodion Amirov
16. Dylan Holloway
17. Dawson Mercer
18. Connor Zary
19. Jan Mysak
20. Mavrik Bourque

There are three guys who have the potential to be real stars: Anton Lundell, Jake Sanderson, and Yaroslav Askarov.

Lundell is potentially the next Sean Couturier, a great two-way center who can put up a PPG on offense. He played all of last year in the Liiga against men.

Sanderson is one of only two potential #1 defensemen in the draft.

Askarov is arguably the best goalie prospect to come in a draft in years, more even than Spencer Knight last year.

But because they have that ceiling, they’re not likely to fall to 15th overall. Other guys who could be interesting are Seth Jarvis, a small winger who likely has the most offensive upside outside the top 10. Public scouts love him more than McKenzie’s rankings. Rodion Amirov is a great two-way winger that many public scouts love as well.

Guys I would absolutely avoid are Schneider and Guhle, both are defensemen who are in the next tier after Drysdale and Sanderson but not nearly worth being taken that high. You’d be better to trade down to get them, or others who are just as good but ranked lower because they’re not Canadian boys.

So who do you think the Leafs should take if they’re available at 15th overall?

Who should Dubas pick?