The Maple Leafs earn the ultimate reward for another painful losing season.

Despite the agony of suffering through yet another losing season, Toronto Maple Leafs' fans were rewarded with the best possible reward.

"We earned this the hard way," the Toronto Maple Leafs president told Kathryn Tappen on Sportsnet after winning the draft lottery Saturday night.

"It wasn't a whole lot of fun this year, but our coaching staff and our management staff did a lot of really good things here in Toronto, (and) this will certainly help."

Sitting through the lottery wasn't easy for Shanahan or the team's eager fanbase.

"I'm just a little bit rattled from this whole experience," he said. "That was a pretty tense moment for all of us. I think just to get into the final three, even (the) Columbus (Blue Jackets), Winnipeg (Jets) and us, we just felt that we were all going to get a great player."

Shanahan said landing the first pick will be a stepping stone in the club's rebuild, but it will take more than one great player to turn things around for the beleaguered Leafs. 

"It's a team sport and it's not about one guy, and that's one thing that (head coach) Mike (Babcock) and (general manager) Lou (Lamoriello) really believe in, but certainly when you have an opportunity to pick first overall, it's an important moment for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"It's an important moment for our fans, our ownership group has given us the support to do this build the right way, so this is a little bit of luck here, it's a lottery, and we're just happy to be lucky today. But we didn't get here without a lot of support from our fans, from our ownership group and from our whole staff."

The 2016 NHL Entry Draft will begin June 24 at First Niagara Center in Buffalo.

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