The nightmare Maple Leafs draft pick scenario with Bruins no one is talking about

The nightmare Maple Leafs draft pick scenario with Bruins no one is talking about originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . It's been easy to focus on the Toronto Maple Leafs ' first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft that is top-five protected.

If it falls outside the first five picks, it goes to the Boston Bruins as part of last year's Brandon Carlo trade. Except wait a second -- if it ends up in the top-five, which has about a 44% chance in the lottery -- the Bruins still get a pick. It's just not this year.

And that's something no one has really talked about. The Maple Leafs, if they keep their pick in 2026, convey an unprotected 2027 first-rounder to Boston. The hope, of course, is that it'll be later in the first round after Toronto has a bounceback season.

But what about the nightmare season where they don't? MORE: Maple Leafs' president brought AI trade pitches to deadline meetings They might not want to enter into a rebuild, even if it gets ugly, because next year's first-rounder would then be going to Boston no matter what. There's at least a case that losing their pick this year isn't the absolute worst-case scenario.