The Toronto Maple Leafs have been awarded the 23rd selection in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft, taking place at the Sphere in Las Vegas from June 27-28.
The order was confirmed on Tuesday as the NHL held its annual draft lottery process. The San Jose Sharks were awarded the first overall pick and are expected to select Macklin Celebrini from the NCAA’s Boston University Terriers.
This is the highest the team has selected since taking Rodion Amirov with the 15th pick back in 2020. It’s the third-highest selection after the Leafs took Auston Matthews first overall in 2016, with Timothy Liljegren going 17th overall in 2017.
Toronto has drafted 23 players over the past four drafts, with only two – Matthew Knies in 2021 and Minten in 2022 – seeing NHL action to date. Toronto had just three picks in 2023, led by Cowan, with Hudson Malinoski and Noah Chadwick getting taken in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively. Other notable draft picks in recent years that are still on the roster include Nick Robertson (53rd in 2019), Pontus Holmberg (156th in 2018), Joseph Woll (2016), Mitch Marner (2015) and William Nylander (2014).
Toronto has selected 23rd overall three times in franchise history: Jim Dorey (1964), Dave Fortier (1971), and Grant Marshall (1992). Of them, Marshall was the most successful, having scored 92 goals, 239 points, and 793 penalty minutes in 700 games but none for Toronto.
The Leafs took Easton Cowan (28th overall in 2023) and Fraser Minten (38th in 2022) as their first picks over the past two years. Toronto has seven picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, but none in the second or third. Among them, they have three picks in the fifth and two in the seventh round. They traded their second pick to St. Louis as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade in 2023, while the third pick was used to acquire Mark Giordano back in 2022.
Toronto could have some interesting options with the No. 23 pick. Aron Kiviharju, a Finnish defenseman, was expected to go early in the draft before an injury seven games into the Liiga season knocked him down. Other notables includes forwards Sacha Boisvert, Andrew Basha, Terik Parascak and Ryder Ritchie, as well as defensemen Henry Mews, Cole Hutson, EJ Emery and Charlie Elick.
