Toronto Maple Leafs: 4 Defencemen to Consider in 2017 Draft

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Nov 28, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock answers questions from the press following their loss against the Washington Capitals at Air Canada Centre. The Capitals beat the Maple Leafs 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

The Toronto Maple Leafs have arguably the best pool of offensive prospects, but what players should they target for their defence in the upcoming draft?

You can make a strong case for the Leafs having the best prospect pool available in the NHL, with six of the NHL’s top scoring rookies belonging to the team.

This pool is flooded with high-scoring, high-potential offensive players from the AHL, all the way down into the major junior hockey leagues in Canada.

However, one area the team is significantly lacking in is along the blue line, which is currently headlined by AHL rookies Andrew Nielsen and Travis Dermott.

With the NHL draft being the logical starting point for any team trying to build for the long-term future, we take a look at some of the best defencemen available for the Leafs this year.

N.B. All rankings used come from hockeyprospects.com‘s 2017 NHL Draft Top 31 Rankings.

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