Top 50 Toronto Maple Leafs
When it comes to storied hockey franchises, very few clubs match the success and name recognition of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Formed in 1917 as the Toronto Arenas, the team would become a member of the "Original Six" and win the Stanley Cup in the NHL's first year. Renaming themselves the Toronto St. Patricks in 1919, they won their second title in 1922. In 1927, they made their third and final name change, that to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto won it all again in 1932 and would dominate the 1940s capturing the Cup five times that decade, and were the winners again in 1951. The 1960s were again their decade, winning the Stanley Cup four times, the last being in 1967.
The Leafs have not made the Stanley Cup Finals since.
This list is up to the end of the 2023/24 season.
Note: Hockey lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
If you look at the top ten that we came up with, we could make a case for any one of them as the best Toronto Maple Leaf of all time. Not only that, when you have a team with a long history and fervent fanbase of Toronto, you will likely…
Turk Broda played his entire NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and with all due respect to everyone else who wore the blue and white in between the pipes, it is Broda who is the most important. Broda’s professional career began with the Detroit Olympics in the minor leagues,…
Tim Horton played his first 20 Seasons in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where his physical strength and toughness set him apart from the other Defenseman. Horton debuted in 1950 and was a Second Team All-Star in 1952-53. He could drop the gloves and intimidate when needed, though he…
A strong argument can be made that the first true power forward in hockey was Charlie Conacher, and at the very least, he was one of the first to define the role. Conacher was a dynamo in junior, leading the Toronto Marlboros to two Memorial Cup wins (1928 & 1929). Conacher…
Borje Salming was not just one of the first hockey players from Scandinavia to play in the NHL, but the Swedish Defenseman was the first from his region to emerge as a superstar on the NHL level. Salming signed with Toronto in 1973, but not much was expected as the…
Darryl Sittler was not only the top sniper for the Toronto Maple Leafs throughout the 1970s, but he was among the best in goal-scoring prowess in the entire league. Sittler was a First Round Pick in 1970, and two years later, the Center had his breakout year with a 77-Point…
In the 1920s, while he was playing for the Ottawa Senators, Francis Michael "King" Clancy was one of the top Defenseman in professional hockey. While he likely lost most of the fights he was in, the 150-pounder was afraid of nobody. Clancy led the Sens to two Stanley Cups, but Ottawa…
In 2016, the Toronto Maple Leafs chose Auston Matthews with the number one pick, the Californian-born hockey player who became an ice-sport superstar. He was hyped to be great, and the Maple Leafs fans loved him immediately. In the Center's first game, he scored four Goals, an unprecedented debut in the…
Mats Sundin played four seasons with the Quebec Nordiques before he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the transaction that sent Wendel Clark the other way. It was a tough start for Sundin in Toronto, as Clark’s popularity in Toronto was astronomical, but Sundin proved quickly that Toronto won…
There are so many former Maple Leafs who fans and writers have dubbed as the consummate representative of the team. One that comes up often, and certainly did in his day, was Ted Kennedy. Kennedy played his entire NHL career for Toronto, debuting as a teenager in 1943 and scoring 49…
When you are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, it is hard to call you underrated, but in the lore of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Harvey “Busher” Jackson does not nearly receive the due he is deserved. Jackson was the top Left Wing in hockey, where he starred on the…
Dave Keon made an immediate impact in the National Hockey League, making the Toronto Maple Leafs straight out of junior. Keon scored 45 Points, winning the Calder Trophy, and his solid two-way play made him an instant celebrity in Toronto. The Center had an effortless backhand and a booming shot. As good…
A product of rural Saskatchewan, Johnny Bower first made the NHL with the New York Rangers at age 29, where he played every minute in his rookie year (1953-54). The Goalie lost his job to Gump Worsley, and he would be relegated to the minors until the Maple Leafs took him…
Frank Mahovlich entered the NHL with lofty expectations, and he delivered immediately, winning the Calder Trophy as the best rookie in the 1956-57 Season. The “Big M” built on his skills, becoming one of Toronto’s top offensive threat in the 1960s. In the 1960-61 campaign, Mahovlich scored 84 Points, which would…
Known as “Chief” due to his Algonquin heritage, George Armstrong would become the most tenured Toronto Maple Leaf of all time, participating in 1,188 Games. Armstrong first appeared in a Leafs uniform in the 1949-50 Season, and was a stalwart at Right Wing two years later. While he was not a…
One of the most prolific Canadian athletes of the 1920s was Cecil "Babe" Dye, who, in addition to hockey, played football for the Toronto Argonauts and was a very good minor league baseball player. Dye was at his best in hockey, of which the then-named Toronto St. Patricks was the beneficiary…
The first half of Allan Stanley's career was decent, but it wasn't spectacular. The Defenseman played for New York (1948-54), Chicago (1954-56), and Boston (1946-58), and while he was good, he was approaching 30, and hockey pundits thought they knew what Stanley was, but a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs…
Doug Gilmour was already an established star in hockey before he arrived in Toronto, as he had a 105-Point season with St. Louis, and he later helped the Calgary Flames win the 1989 Stanley Cup. While Gilmour did not win a Cup as a Maple Leaf, he became their leader and…
Playing at Defense, Red Horner was an 11-year veteran of the National Hockey League, all of which was as a Toronto Maple Leaf. Horner was a meat-and-potatoes type of player who had no grace on the ice but effortlessly found teammates whit precision passing. His true calling card was his toughness,…
The professional hockey career of Gordie Drillon was relatively short, considering that he would eventually become a Hockey Hall of Famer, but he created an offensive strategy that would become a staple in the NHL. Called up in 1936, Drillon was a Right Wing who used his size to position…