On Draft day in 2015, the biggest day so far for the Leafs heading into their rebuild, they owned two first round picks. They used the first to select Mitch Marner of the London Knights, but when they reached the 24th overall pick, something odd happened. The Leafs traded their 24th overall pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for picks #29 and #61. Either way, when the time came for the Leafs to pick at #61, they selected forward Jeremy Bracco from the USNTDP. This was a great pickup for the Leafs, as many scouts had him going early second round. But why was this a good selection? Let's take a look.
The first thing you'll notice about Bracco is his size. He's small, standing at 5'10 and 160lbs, he's not physically intimidating. But that doesn't matter when you look at the rest of his game. He is third all time in USNTDP scoring, sitting only behind Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel, and carries a strong playmaking game. He plays a style game very similar to Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames. He had an impressive development camp with the Leafs and will play for Boston College this coming season.
PROBABLE NHL ROLE: 2ND LINE SCORER
If Bracco's development goes the way Leafs management wants it to, then there's no reason he shouldn't turn out to be a solid second liner in the future. He possesses all the offensive tools to get the job done, so time will tell whether Bracco can bring those tools to the NHL.
PROSPECT GRADE: B+
Given the fact that we haven't seen too much of Bracco in a Leafs uniform besides development camp, it's hard to give him a higher grade right now. But if we see a strong season from him at Boston College, his grade will shoot up.
What do you think of Bracco, Leafs fans? Weigh in below.
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