The Buffalo Sabres will select first overall in July after winning the NHL draft lottery.
The Seattle Kraken moved up to second, dropping the Anaheim Ducks to third. There were no other changes based on the pre-lottery odds.
Here's the order of the first 15 picks:
The Arizona Coyotes forfeited their first-round pick for violating the NHL's combine testing policy in 2019-20. A redraw would've occurred if the Coyotes won.
There's no consensus top player in this year's draft. Canadian defenseman Owen Power is the top-ranked North American skater, while Swedish winger William Eklund is the No. 1-ranked international skater, according to NHL Central Scouting.
The Sabres have picked first overall three times in franchise history. They selected Gilbert Perreault in 1970, Pierre Turgeon in 1987, and Rasmus Dahlin in 2018.
Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan supported his star players Wednesday in the aftermath of their latest playoff blunder.
"We are going to do this in Toronto, with this group. There'll be changes that are made, there'll be tweaks along the way, the team will evolve, the people will evolve. But we are going to get this done," Shanahan said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.
The future of the Maple Leafs' big four - Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander - has been brought into question after Toronto failed to advance out of the first round for the fifth consecutive year, this time blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Montreal Canadiens.
Much of the flak has fallen on Marner and Matthews, as Tavares was injured for nearly the entire series and Nylander led the team in scoring. Marner said earlier Wednesday that he's against the team going into "panic mode," and Shanahan delivered a similar message.
"I'll say this about our top four (forwards). Any team in the league would want them, but we like them, we want to keep them here," Shanahan said, according to NHL.com's Dave McCarthy.
Although Shanahan offered a vote of confidence, he did admit his club has yet again proved it doesn't quite have what it takes to win a championship.
"There's a killer instinct that is missing that we need to address," he said, per The Athletic's James Mirtle. Shanahan added, "We have to really be honest with ourselves. We have to support our players and help them get over that hump."
The Leafs made a clear effort to obtain veteran experience this season, bringing in Wayne Simmonds, Joe Thornton, and Nick Foligno to reinforce a roster that many believed lacked grit.
Despite the additions, Toronto remains without a series win since 2004.
"This came so sudden, I really haven't had time to think about it," Thornton said Wednesday, according to Sportsnet. "First and foremost, I have to be a dad for a little bit here. But I feel really, really healthy. I feel really, really good."
Thornton's campaign ended Monday after Toronto squandered a 3-1 series lead to the Montreal Canadiens.
The 41-year-old signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Leafs last offseason. He notched 20 points in 44 regular-season games and added one goal in the playoffs.
Thornton's inked one-year deals in each of the past four years. The future Hall of Famer is still chasing his first Stanley Cup.
Mitch Marner believes the Toronto Maple Leafs' best strategy is to stay the course despite another disastrous first-round playoff exit.
"Everyone just wants to get into panic mode and do stuff and try to change something up, but I think they (management) have a lot of confidence in our team," Marner said at his end-of-season media availability, according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta. "It's up to them to decide what they want to do. We all know how much talent we have."
The heavily favored Maple Leafs blew a 3-1 series lead against the Montreal Canadiens, marking the 17th straight season they've failed to win a playoff round. It's also the fifth time the Auston Matthews and Marner-led core has been unable to advance, leading to increased criticism in recent days.
"The end result is terrible," Marner said, according to the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan. "It's not what we wanted. No one is feeling good about this. It's awful ... what we didn't accomplish is a really shitty feeling."
Marner registered four assists in seven games versus the Habs while averaging over 24 minutes per night. He's riding an 18-game goalless drought in his playoff career.
The online backlash included a report that Marner refused to change his role on the Leafs' struggling top power-play unit, which he denied Wednesday.
"It's a complete lie," Marner said, according to Kristen Shilton of TSN. It's just people trying to get their name out there. It sucks that stuff like that's being said. I think everyone can see I'll try and play any role I can to help this team win."
Toronto drafted Marner fourth overall in 2015. He's recorded 358 points in 355 career games with his hometown team.
Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Sidney Crosby are the finalists for the 2021 Ted Lindsay Award, given to the most outstanding player as voted by the NHL Players' Association, the union announced Wednesday.
McDavid led the league in scoring by a landslide, registering a whopping 105 points in the shortened 56-game season. The Edmonton Oilers captain is likely to claim the award and the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP. He's won the Ted Lindsay twice in his career.
This marks Matthews' first nomination for the honor. The Toronto Maple Leafs sniper won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy with a league-leading 41 goals in 2021.
Crosby didn't receive as much attention throughout the regular season as McDavid and Matthews, but the Pittsburgh Penguins legend was quietly fantastic. He notched 62 points in 55 games and carried a Pens roster that was decimated by injuries to a first-place finish in the East Division. Crosby's won the award three times.
All three superstars were eliminated in the first round of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"Doesn't look good," Brind'Amour said postgame, according to Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer. "I don't know the extent of it at this point but, obviously, he couldn't continue. You know he would have come back and played if he could."
Trocheck collided with teammate Warren Foegele in the second period. He returned to start the third but departed again.
After returning for the start of the third, Vincent Trocheck has gone back to the Canes' locker room.
Carolina's forward depth will be tested if Trocheck misses any time, as winger Nino Niederreiter has already been ruled doubtful to play in the series.
Trocheck enjoyed a bounce-back regular season, finishing second on the Canes with 43 points in 47 games. His 0.91 points per game tied a personal best. He entered Tuesday with two goals and one assist in seven playoff appearances.
The Winnipeg Jets will allow 500 fully vaccinated healthcare workers to attend Games 1 and 2 of their second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.
This will mark the first Jets game at MTS Place with fans since March 9, 2020 - before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Toronto Maple Leafs did something similar, allowing 550 fully vaccinated healthcare workers at Scotiabank Arena for Game 7 against the Habs on Monday.
The Canadiens will likely host five times the number of fans as the Jets when the series shifts back to Montreal. The Quebec government allowed 2,500 fans for Game 6 against the Leafs. It was the first time that fans had attended an NHL contest in Canada since the pandemic began.
After failing to escape the initial round of the NHL postseason for a fifth straight year, three is the magic number for this Toronto Maple Leafs era.
That's how many seasons the Leafs have left with this core group of players. Auston Matthews is an unrestricted free agent following the 2023-24 season. So is William Nylander. Mitch Marner and John Tavares are UFAs following the 2024-25 campaign. Other key veterans - Zach Hyman, Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, TJ Brodie, Jack Campbell - are free at different points over the next three years as well. Some will sign extensions, and others will leave.
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The Stanley Cup window is already shrinking for a team that, on paper, should challenge for Cups every year. Fresh off Monday's Game 7 loss to the underdog Montreal Canadiens, let's break down the three different paths the Leafs' brass could take this offseason. For the purposes of this exercise, we'll assume the leadership group of president Brendan Shanahan, general manager Kyle Dubas, and head coach Sheldon Keefe remains the same.
1. Major changes
On its own, the Maple Leafs being eliminated by an inferior team shouldn't cause mass panic; the series went seven games, and sometimes the favored team loses.
Yet, given the tortured recent history of this franchise and the Cup-contending potential of its star-studded core, what unfolded over the past two weeks set off alarms throughout Leafs Nation. This roster established a new team high in points percentage, and multiple players dominated individually in the regular season. But that means squat without results in the playoffs.
Ahead 3-1 against Montreal - a solid but largely unremarkable squad - the Leafs fell apart at the seams. They were inconsistent in Games 5 and 6 and then showed little urgency in Game 7. The Carey Price-led Habs deserve credit for the upset, but Toronto's inability to finish the job was the story of the series.
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A pattern has emerged, too. In seven closeout games from 2018-21, Matthews has one goal and two assists, Marner has two assists, and Nylander has two goals and two assists. Sure, seven games isn't a large sample size - but there aren't that many elimination games in a player's career.
In terms of significant changes, a trade involving Alex Kerfoot, Justin Holl, or even top prospect Nick Robertson won't move the needle. Matthews, Nylander, Tavares, and Marner would be the pieces in question.
Matthews isn't going anywhere. Trading a generational scorer would be a colossal mistake, no matter the circumstances. Nylander's stock has never been higher after he scored five goals in this series. Then again, the $7-million AAV of his deal has become a bargain, and the cap-strapped Leafs need bargains. Meanwhile, Tavares' hefty contract is basically immovable.
Darcy Finley / Getty Images
That leaves Marner, who looked like someone in the middle of a psychological struggle during seven lackluster playoff games. He was a shell of his regular-season self, gripping his stick too tightly and not shooting when he should. His playoff goal drought has now stretched to 18 games.
If, as many outside observers proclaim, Marner doesn't have "it" - the killer instinct and playing style that translates to playoff success - perhaps it's time for the Leafs to ship the playmaker elsewhere and reallocate his $10.9-million annual salary to multiple players. Even with his reputation in tatters, the market for Marner would be piping hot, and the Leafs need an injection of depth.
A second option could be Rielly. The club's No. 1 defenseman has just one season left on his deal and carries a manageable cap hit of $5 million. Rielly was one of the Leafs' best players versus the Habs, which makes the idea of trading him appear ridiculous on the surface - but if management feels the need to make a seismic change, Rielly qualifies as a legitimate trade chip.
2. Minor changes
The best counterargument to making a major change is that trading a Marner or a Rielly means losing a high-impact player for the next regular season and beyond. Trading for equal talent isn't an impossible task in the NHL, but it's not easy.
And the grass isn't always greener: Look no further than the recent blockbuster between the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets. Neither Patrik Laine nor Pierre-Luc Dubois excelled after a change of scenery.
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With Marner, Dubas must weigh the pros and cons of bidding farewell to Matthews' top-line running mate. Marner is an exceptional talent, a game-changer, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that he gets over his playoff yips next year and the Leafs are fine.
So, if a major move is deemed too reactionary, Dubas will probably shift his focus to the rest of the operation to find a formula that can end the organization's 17-year run of playoff incompetence. Dubas has already adjusted his original plan, bringing in veteran leadership, toughness, and defense over the past couple of years after starting his tenure as a GM willing to bet almost exclusively on skill.
A few minor changes that come to mind:
A new power-play coach after assistant Manny Malhotra was unable to fix what was ailing the Leafs down the stretch and in the playoffs;
A fresh crop of depth forwards after a few bottom-six guys, including Joe Thornton and Pierre Engvall, contributed next to nothing in the playoffs;
A new goalie partner for Jack Campbell, though pending UFA Frederik Andersen was on his way out long before the collapse against the Habs.
Tinkering is the least sexy path to take. However, it's the most likely approach.
3. Staying the course
This is the path 99% of Leafs fans don't want Dubas to even think about.
The fan base has every right to feel that way. This core hasn't lived up to expectations, period. There's no denying the reality of the situation.
Ignore those emotionally charged thoughts for a moment, though, and there's a case to be made for maintaining the status quo. It would be the least satisfying, most criticized path, but is it the most rational one too?
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Tavares got hurt in Game 1 and never returned. Jake Muzzin got hurt in Game 6 and never returned. Nick Foligno played hurt. At least a portion of Matthews' and Marner's struggles can be traced back to Montreal's shutdown efforts. It's not as if the Leafs choked all on their own.
There aren't five teams in the NHL more talented than the Leafs. Not only should they escape the first round with regularity, but they should be going on deep runs. Execution is the chief issue, and there are a few recent examples of teams that knocked on the door for years before breaking through.
It took last summer's Cup winner, the Steven Stamkos-led Tampa Bay Lightning, seven years. The 2019 champs, the Alex Ovechkin-led Washington Capitals, waited a full decade. Even this year's trendy Cup pick, the Colorado Avalanche, endured plenty of lows during the Nathan MacKinnon era.
It's nice to suggest seismic change, but what would markedly improve this team? What's fundamentally wrong with the roster? (The rebuttal that Toronto "needs more toughness" doesn't hold up in today's NHL. Have you watched the 2019-20 Lightning or 2020-21 Avs? Skill and speed for days.)
Really, it all comes back to the contention window: Three years.
Three years is both a short time and a long time.
Now what?
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. You can follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) and contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).
