With the 35th selection, the Leafs picked yet another defenceman, Matt Finn of the Guelph Storm.
The choice was a simple one for management. With many pundits and mock drafts having Finn pegged as a mid-to-late first rounder, Finn is considered a steal for the team.
“Sitting there was long,” said Finn, who sat in the stands as others were selected on Friday. “It’s always nice to go that first night but I’m as happy as I can be right now and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Finn grew up in the Toronto’s west-end and is a two-way defenceman who accumulated 47 points in 61 games with the Storm last season. He quarterbacks the team’s power play and is solid on the penalty kill.
While talented, he lacks the tremendous size and physicality that Brian Burke usually demands in a defenceman. Combined with the long list of defensive prospects in the Leafs system, it could be a while before Finn develops into a regular in the NHL.
“I’ve got to work,” Finn said. “If it’s next year, two years or five years down the road, my dream is to play in the NHL.”
Finn grew up watching the Maple Leafs. He was part of the old ‘Buds Club’ fan club program and his second cousin is former Maple Leafs and current Blues defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo.
Finn’s favourite players growing up were Mats Sundin and Bryan McCabe, who Finn tries to emulate.
“I like the way he played,” Finn said of McCabe. “He played hard and he competed. He was the player I looked up to as a defenceman.”
Other selections
The Maple Leafs had to wait all the way until round five when they would select U.S. high school student Dominic Toninado 126th overall, a centre out of Duluth, Minnesota. In the sixth round, the Leafs selected right wing Connor Brown of the Erie Otters and Ryan Rupert, a gritty centre with the London Knights. The Leafs wrapped up their draft by selecting Viktor Loov 209th overall.
Missing out on Staal
Burke acknowledged that they were involved in negotiations with Pittsburgh for Jordan Staal but nothing every came to fruition. “The asking price was too high and I didn’t have a player named Staal,” he said.
Gustavsson era officially ends
With all the talk surrounding Toronto’s goaltending situation, the only move the Leafs made was shipping Jonas Gustavsson’s NHL rights to Winnipeg for a conditional seventh round pick in 2013.
“He played some good hockey for us and I think it was time as an organization for us to move on and it’s time for him to move on,” Burke said. “Winnipeg approached us and said they wanted to sign him as a backup goaltender and would we give them the right to jump the cue.”
The trade gives the Jets eight days to negotiate with the ‘Monster’ exclusively.
Leafs pull the trigger
On Day 1 of the draft, Leafs president and GM Brian Burke felt that he wasn’t anywhere near a deal. But at the end of day two he changed his tone. “We might be, yeah,” Burke said when asked if he was close to making any trades.
Several times, Burke was seen talking over at the Philadelphia draft table and late Saturday the Leafs pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Luke Schenn to the Flyers for James van Riemsdyk..