Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL Draft: Rounds 6-13

Finally, we’ve made it to the dregs of the draft, the final two rounds of the modern draft and rounds that don’t (and probably shouldn’t have ever) exist anymore.

We have seven rounds of info to go through, so let’s get to it.

First up is the sixth round of the NHL draft. The Maple Leafs have made 57 picks in this round, the most of any round ever. It’s almost like these picks aren’t worth trading....

The sixth round amazingly sees, you guessed it, defenders high up the list, but left wingers are tied for volume with them.

The OHL is again tops, but the NCAA jumps out into third place for leagues drafted from. Worth it, since the Leafs got a total of....21 games from those eight players: Bill McCreary Jr (1979) played 12 games and Robbie Earl (2004) played nine.

Only three players from the sixth round have ever played more than 100 games for the Leafs: Connor Brown (2012) currently has 171 games, Ian White (2002) played 296, and Leo Komarov (2006) has played 327 and could possibly see that number stay there this summer. Recent sixth rounders Nicolas Mattinen and Stephen Desrocher have been returned to the draft.

Here is the complete list of the Toronto Maple Leafs sixth round picks.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sixth round picks

Round seven is the worst one yet, which is to be expected.

Nineteen defenders! I had to turn the chart sideways otherwise it wouldn’t have worked.

A big  sprinkling of leagues in round seven, but the OHL, as always, is way out front.

There was only one player of consequence for the Maple Leafs taken in round seven, and that is Carl Gunnarson (2007), because he got us Roman Polak. No, I’m kidding please don’t hurt me. He played just over 300 games (304) for the Leafs, and was a long time name on the blue line. The next closest player to 100 games for the Leafs was some guy named Anton Stralman (2005) who played 88 games but then faded out of existence I think.

Here are all of the Maple Leafs 7th round picks.

Round Seven

Round eight saw things spread out a lot more generously than the others. The OHL is still the most popular, but it only had a two point lead.

Defenders were once again the position of choice which is a good thing....

In the eight round of the 1996 draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected #38 on the top 100 Maple Leafs of all time, one of the Leafs greatest defenders of all time, Tomas Kaberle.

As probably one of the greatest eighth round picks of all time (no, you do the research) Kaberle would play 878 games for the Maple Leafs, scoring 83 goals, 437 assists for 520 points. Still a resident of Toronto even after being traded in 2011 and retiring in 2016 and leaving the NHL in 2014, Kaberle makes appearances at alumni events, and keeps a hand in Leafs Nation at all times. He got to watch his evil twin Womas Waberle win the Stanley Cup with the Bruins and then play for the Montreal Canadiens.

One other player played over 100 games for the Leafs, and it was Dmitri Mironov (1991) who played 175 games. Below you can find all of the Maple Leafs eighth round picks.

Round 8

One note: Derek Laxdal is the coach of the Texas Stars who are currently locked in an exciting AHL final with the Marlies.

Round nine has actually a pretty good top two players. First, where they came from though.

The OHL has been dethroned! Twice as many players from the NCAA than from the OHL this time. More Connecticut high schoolers than QMJHL players, which, burn on you Q.

Defenders almost out do all of the other positions combined at 14 to 15. Which got us one of the most popular, short-lived Maple Leafs of all time, Danny Markov (1995). Not a superstar but such a huge personality that Leafs fans loved him from his very first game. Markov played 200 games for the Maple Leafs but isn’t the longest serving Leafs from round nine. That honour goes to Pat Boutette (1972) who played 349 games for the Leafs at centre, scoring 59 goals and 82 assists for 141 points.

The rest of the picks, are below:

Round 9

Round 10 was nowhere near as successful a round as the others, with only six of 22 picks playing a game for the Leafs.

The OHL is back on top!

Defenders and wingers were the positions to pick in round ten. Speaking of wingers, the only player of consequence was Sergei Berezin (1994) who would play 357 games for the Leafs, scoring 126 goals, 94 assists, and 220 points.

Round 10

Round 11 was a waste of time.

Nathan Dempsey was the best pick and he played 48 NHL games over eight seasons with the Maple Leafs. Wheeeee! The only other player to become a Leaf was Tim Armstrong, who played 11 games.

Round 11

No wait, round 12 was a waste of time.

No one picked in round 12 played a game for the Maple Leafs.

Round 12

Round 13 was the shortest of them all. In 1975 the Maple Leafs selected Rick Martin from the OHL’s London Knights. He wouldn’t play outside of junior hockey, but he goes down in the annals of Leafs history as the only 13th round pick the Maple Leafs have ever made.

There are all of the Maple Leafs picks from the start of the amateur draft. Was this a worthwhile exercise? Maybe. Was it fun? Kinda.

Let’s see what else I can shove into a spreadsheet.

Related

Toronto Maple Leafs draft results: Round One
Toronto Maple Leafs draft results: round two
Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL Draft: Round Three
Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL Draft: Rounds 4 and 5