BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Not once in a career that spans nearly three decades has Lou Lamoriello held the No. 1 overall pick at the NHL draft.
The Maple Leafs general manager picked as high as second overall 29 years ago when his New Jersey Devils selected Brendan Shanahan, now Toronto's president, from the London Knights. The Leafs, now led by Shanahan and Lamoriello, will call out the first pick at the draft on Friday in Buffalo, widely expected to be American centre Auston Matthews.
Matthews would become the first No. 1 overall pick by the club since 1985 and a significant piece of the puzzle for the rapidly rebuilding franchise.
"Any time you have the ability to pick the best player in the draft in your opinion it means quite a bit," Lamoriello said on the eve of the draft. "In other words, you're not waiting for someone else to take a player."
Lamoriello wouldn't say who the Leafs would pick, but did confirm that the team has come to a decision. That player is likely to be Matthews, who posted more than a point per game this past season in the Swiss League, while hailing from Scottsdale, Ariz.
Matthews is seen as having all the desired traits -- size, speed, skill, and smarts -- of a future top-line centre, a long-standing area of need for the Leafs since probable Hall of Famer Mats Sundin departed the organization in 2008.
Matthews has little in common with Wendel Clark, the last player picked No. 1 overall by the Leafs. Clark hailed from a tiny town in Saskatchewan, wore a mullet and moustache and played a brute game highlighted by loud goals and fights.
He played nine seasons for Toronto before being flipped to the Quebec Nordiques in exchange for Sundin and other parts.
"Obviously it's an Original Six team," Matthews said of potentially playing for the Leafs. "Like I've said before, it's the hockey mecca of the world there in Toronto. So it'd be pretty special to have the opportunity to play for them."
Lamoriello stressed that whomever the Leafs picked -- Finnish winger Patrik Laine is seen as the only other, if still unlikely possibility -- expectations should be tempered initially.
No player, he said, is going to be the face of the franchise. "The logo will be the face of this franchise," said Lamoriello.
"There's no question, we expect a lot out of the player that we're getting, but certainly not right away. I think that we have to respect this game in the National Hockey League and the ability of the players, that you take an 18-year-old and expect him to do wonders, it's not fair."
Toronto has rarely had a player of Matthews' potential.
The last Maple Leaf to win the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie was Brit Selby in 1966 and Matthews will indeed be the favourite for the award when he enters the league next fall.
He'll join an intriguing pool of young talent in Toronto, one that's accumulated under Shanahan over the last three years to include William Nylander, who posted 13 points in his first 22 NHL games, and Mitch Marner, who led all OHL players in post-season scoring with 44 points in only 18 games and was named Memorial Cup MVP.
"I think I know I'm ready for whatever happens," Matthews said. "For me I want to focus on myself and on the team and whatever I can do to get better every day and learn as much as possible."
