Former NHL GM Gord Stellick reveals Joe Sakic was almost drafted by Maple Leafs

Stellick notes that then-Maple Leafs head coach John Brophy was adamantly against the decision, which is funny for a couple of reasons. First, as Stellick says, it’s crazy to think that their coach had that much say in who the Maple Leafs drafted, but the connection between him and then-owner Harold Ballard was too strong for his word to be left in the dust. Second, Brophy didn’t want Sakic because he ‘didn’t want a small centre’. They both stand at 5-foot-11!

The Quebec Nordiques, who had two first-round picks in the first round of the 1987 draft, ended up using their second of those two picks to select Sakic as 15th overall. He undoubtedly got the last laugh in this situation, putting together a career of over 1300 games with 625 goals and over 1600 points. He also won two Stanley Cups, one in 1996 and the other in 2001. Richardson, on the other hand, only lasted four seasons with the Maple Leafs before he was involved in a blockbuster trade with the Edmonton Oilers that saw Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson, and now-Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube.

As noted off the top, there were 12 other teams who could have taken Sakic, so this wasn’t just a fumble by the Leafs. Still, if you routinely struggle with the lack of success the Leafs have had in the past half-century, don’t imagine the idea of Sakic and Doug Gilmour playing on a line together.