Leafs Add Depth, Skill on Day 2 of NHL Draft

One day after adding a high-skill, Swedish defenceman from the Ontario League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds with their 2018 NHL first-round draft pick and making a trade to increase the number of players they'd be drafting at the two-day event in Dallas, the Maple Leafs used the second day of the draft to add more blueliners, more Swedes, and make more trades.
The Leafs took 18-year-old Swedish D-man Rasmus Sandin 29th overall Friday night - swapping their 25th-overall original pick with St. Louis for pick No. 29 as well as a third-rounder (76th overall) - and new GM Kyle Dubas was pleased the Buds were able to pick up the slick-skating, puck-moving Greyhounds blueliner while also increasing their overall volume of prospects.

And Dubas wasn't done making moves Saturday: following the drafting of defenceman Sean Durzi - a 19-year-old who posted 34 assists and 49 points in 40 games with the OHL's Owen Sound Attack in 2017-18 - with the 52nd overall selection (acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a 2016 transaction), Dubas used the third-round pick he landed in the Blues trade Friday to choose Russian-born forward Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. The 17-year-old produced 12 goals and 51 points in 68 games for the OHL's Peterborough Petes last season, and although he's not a behemoth at 5-foot-10 and 159 pounds, Der-Arguchintsev is crafty and quick.
Toronto's next pick came at the No. 83 slot - another selection acquired in a different trade with San Jose - and Dubas and his management team decided to use it on Western League forward Riley Stotts. The 18-year-old Winnipeg native began the season with the WHL's Swift Current Broncos, but was shipped to the Calgary Hitmen and hit his stride there, registering 17 goals and 41 points in 47 games. Like all of the Buds' draftees this weekend, Stotts isn't physically imposing, but he thrives because of his work ethic, on-ice instincts, and focus on all elements of the game.
Dubas used the 118th-overall pick to take blueliner Mac Hollowell, the second Greyhound - the organization Dubas ran before joining the Leafs as an assistant GM in 2014 - drafted by the Buds this weekend. The 19-year-old Hollowell had a banner season in 2017-18, putting up a career-high 44 assists and 56 points in 63 regular-season games, then following that up with 14 assists and 16 points in 24 playoff games. The Niagara Falls, Ont., native is a right-shooting D-man who plays a solid game in his own end and can find seams and create offensive opportunities in the opposition's zone.
The Leafs continued to fill their organizational coffers on defence with the 149th-overall selection, drafting Czech defender Filip Kral at that slot. The 18-year-old had his first taste of the North American game this past season when he appeared in 54 games with the WHL's Spokane Chiefs; Kral posted 26 assists and 35 points in that span, and the 6-foot-1, 172-pounder will have ample opportunity to continue honing his craft at the junior level in 2018-19.
Toronto consummated another trade shortly after picking Kral: this swap sent the Leafs' sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft to the Buffalo Sabres in return for the 156th-overall selection this year. And Dubas took forward Pontus Holmberg with that pick, giving the Buds their second Swede of the weekend and deeping their talent level up front. The 19-year-old Holmberg played two games for the Swedish Elite League's Växjö Lakers last year and will spend much more time with the organization this coming season, and he's ferocious on the puck and plays much bigger than his 5-foot-10 frame.
The Buds took their first and only goaltender of the draft with the 209th-overall pick (obtained from Anaheim in a 2017 deal that sent goalie Jhonas Enroth to the Ducks) when they selected 18-year-old Zachary Bouthillier of the Quebec Major Junior League's Chicoutimi Saguenéens. Bouthillier improved as the 2017-18 season unfolded, posting a 2.79 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in six playoff games.
With their final pick of the draft, the Leafs took Russian right winger Semyon Kizimov 211th overall. The 18-year-old skated in Russia's top junior league for most of the past two seasons, and like all players selected toward the end of a draft, he's got room for improvement, but a strong base of talent and terrific offensive instincts. In three games for Russia at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship, he netted two goals and three points in as many games.
By the time it was over, Dubas counted himself satisfied that he'd made the franchise a more talented and stronger one. In choosing a new group to augment what the organization has already, Dubas made it clear the Leafs didn't need to rely on icing a group of 6-foot-7 leviathans to come out on the winning side more often than not, and build a Stanley Cup champion.
"If you had your choice, you'd want bigger people always, but I think there's less and less sacrificing of talent to draft size," Dubas told assembled media members in Dallas. "You take more of the guys that have skill, ability to move the puck and make plays."