7 of the best NHL Draft steals in Toronto Maple Leafs history

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t always had the best track record of drafts over their franchise history, but they’ve landed a few gems.

With the NHL Draft set to take place in Nashville later this month, it’s a good time to revisit some of the mid-round steals the team

For the purposes of this article, we’re counting players taken in the third round or later who made an NHL impact with Toronto as steal candidates.

For example, 2013 Leafs third-rounder Carter Verhaeghe scored 42 goals with the Florida Panthers this past season but never suited up at the NHL level with Toronto.

Here are seven of the best steals in draft history for the Blue and White.

1. Tomas Kaberle

Drafted: 1996, 8th round (204th overall)

Leafs stats: 878 GP, 83 G, 437 A, 520 PTS

Though he ended his career with the Montreal Canadiens — and won the 2011 Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins — Tomas Kaberle will always be best remembered for his time in Toronto.

Still living in Toronto with his family and often seen around Scotiabank Arena, it’s hard to imagine someone — save for Mats Sundin — who best exemplified the spirit of the 2000s era of the Leafs than Kaberle.

2. Yanic Perreault

Drafted: 1991 (third round, 47th overall)

Leafs stats: 176 GP, 54 G, 69 A, 123 PTS

The Leafs appeared to like Yanic Perreault so much that he joined the team three separate times.

Perreault played for the Leafs in three distinct eras: his rookie season of 1993-94, three seasons from 1998-2001, and again at the tail-end of the 2006-07 season as a trade deadline acquisition.

One of his generation’s best faceoff men, Perreault managed 859 NHL games across 14 seasons and six organizations before hanging the skates up for good in 2008.

3. Alexei Ponikarovsky

Drafted: 1998 (fourth round, 87th overall)

Leafs stats: 477 GP, 114 G, 143 A, 257 PTS

Playing nine seasons in Toronto, Ponikarovsky put up three separate 20-goal campaigns as he finished nineteenth in his draft class in career scoring.

After leaving the Leafs in a 2010 trade, Ponikarovsky played for four organizations (New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Carolina) that won the Stanley Cup during his time in the NHL, though he never ended up there during their championship years. Consider him unlucky to never win it all, but he still had a pretty remarkable career.

4. Sergei Berezin

Drafted: 1994, (10th round, 256th overall)

Leafs stats: 357 GP, 126 G, 94 A, 220 PTS

Storming out of the gate with 25 goals in his rookie season with Toronto, Berezin was an electric winger who topped the Leafs with 37 goals in his third NHL season in 1998-99.

Traded to Phoenix for Mikael Renberg in the summer of 2001, Berezin’s 160 career goals ended up being 13th most in his draft class.

Not bad for a 256th overall pick.

5. Leo Komarov

Drafted: 2006, (sixth round, 180th overall)

Leafs stats: 327 GP,  52 G, 70 A, 122 PTS

The most modern of their steals on this list, Leo Komarov was a fan favourite during his time in Toronto, where he spent five seasons with the big-league club while being part of three playoff runs.

He hasn’t played in the NHL regularly since 2020-21, but the 36-year-old put 18 points in 49 games for Sweden’s Lulea HF this past season.

6. Fredrik Modin

Drafted:  1994, (third round, 64th overall)

Leafs stats: 217 GP, 38 G, 38 A, 76 PTS

Oh, what could’ve been in Toronto.

Despite putting up 38 goals across his first three years in Toronto, the Leafs eventually traded Modin to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Cory Cross and a seventh round pick in 2001.

Modin put up a pair of 30-goal seasons with the Lightning, and put up 19 points (including eight goals) on Tampa Bay’s run to the Stanley Cup in 2004.

7. Anton Stralman

Drafted: 2005, (seventh round, 216th overall)

Leafs stats:  88 GP, 4 G, 17 A, 21 PTS

Like Modin, former Leafs pick Anton Stralman’s best days came as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he was a Leaf before he was heralded as a top defensive defenceman throughout the league, receiving Norris Trophy votes in both 2015 and 2016.

During his time in the league, he has bounced around six NHL organizations, most recently playing eight games with the Boston Bruins this past year.

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