Maple Leafs' NHL draft grade is pretty brutal amid tumultuous Marner rumors

Billy Heyen

Maple Leafs' NHL draft grade is pretty brutal amid tumultuous Marner rumors image

It's a busy time for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Amid the Mitch Marner rumors and all their other contract question marks, it almost felt like the NHL Draft was an afterthought.

Toronto didn't have a boatload of picks to use, anyway, and so there was always the potential to underwhelm.

The Athletic's Corey Pronman thinks that's exactly what they did.

Pronman gave the Maple Leafs a 'C' grade for their efforts.

"The first two picks for the Maple Leafs, Tinus Luc Koblar and Tyler Hopkins, are both forwards who I think have a chance to play in the NHL," Pronman wrote. "They didn’t have much draft capital, so while I don’t mind what they did with what they had, realistically, this group is unlikely to produce a full-time player."

MORE: The reason Mitch Marner doesn't want to return to the Maple Leafs

That's pretty rough. Toronto fans will certainly hope one of their draft picks outperforms their expectation.

In the meantime, though, it's back to focusing on free agency.

The Maple Leafs already got John Tavares re-signed, which was a good thing to get out of the way.

Is a Marner sign-and-trade next?

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle