It is true that some scouts believed that Laine may have turned out to be the better player over time. I know one of them who did. But the large majority of scouts felt differently & no matter what Matthews was the unanimous consensus to be the first overall pick & this had already been pre-determined two years prior to the actual draft. One member of the media i spoke with told me that some members of the media started that rumor (that Laine could go first) in order to stir up some interest towards the draft. However truth behold once the lottery was completed & Toronto had won the lottery it was 100% assured that Matthews would get picked first. 100% of scouts, GMs & media were well aware that Toronto’s only intention was to draft atthews with their first overall pick. They had no interest in Laine. Laine wasn’t even #2 on their list. They wanted & needed a center & that’s why they gave away Phil Kessel & Dion Phaneuf: in order to draft the big centre who was the only generational player in the draft.