The Toronto Maple Leafs have many great players, but are any of them worthy of the Hall of Fame?
Many fantastic players have played for this great franchise and had a sport reserved for them in the Hockey Hall of Fame. With the most players than any other team in the hall with 60, there could be some more additions in our current roster.
Here are five potential Hall of Famers on the current Leafs roster.
Patrick Marleau
Patrick Marleau is a guaranteed Hall of Famer at this point. With 20 years of NHL experience and over 1100 regular season points, his ballot will probably be accepted the year he retires. He is ranked 11th all-time in games played with 1575 and is almost at top 50 in points.
Marleau has only played one season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the rest being with the San Jose Sharks. He has two-years left in his contract with the Leafs and we’ll see if he calls it a career by then. Coming to Toronto was possibly his last chance at winning a cup and will be one of the greatest players without one if he doesn’t.
Auston Matthews
Auston Matthews is the team’s superstar and he’s only two seasons into his career. He has the potential to be a Hall of Famer if he continues to improve like most fans expect. In his regular season career, he’s notched 132 points in 144 games, including his Leafs record 40 goal rookie season. With almost a point-per-game in just two teenaged seasons, it looks very likely that Matthews will evolve into not only the team’s leader and leading scorer, but Hall of Famer as well.
Mitch Marner
Mitch Marner is as flashy as rookies come. Even though he just finished his sophomore year, he is still only 21 years old with a huge amount of potential. The speedy forward has 130 points in 159 regular season games and is showing no signs of slowing down. Marner has shown the league that his small size doesn’t stop him from scoring or put in lots of effort for a team goal. His defensive capabilities are improving and could be a really good two-play forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs going forward.
William Nylander
William Nylander is a fantastic winger for the Leafs. Originally playing centre and possibly will as well going forward, Nylander’s speed and wicked shot give him a big advantage over opposing defenders. It’s possible that Nylander will just be a good player without anything more, but that is very unlikely. With the way he’s playing it looks like he’s gonna get a lot better every season and possibly win some individual awards as well. With 135 points in his first 185 games, he is off to a great start with the buds and will just keep getting better.
Morgan Rielly
Morgan Rielly has been evolving into a great backbone to this young Toronto Maple Leafs team. The quick and shifty defenceman has been fantastic the past seasons with 56 points in 76 games, almost double from the season before. With Morgan Rielly it depends on how long his career is and how well he improves the next few seasons. With a long career, improving and improving like he has this past year, he has a shot at the Hall of Fame.
Next: Faceoffs and the Value of Unicorns
Many great Toronto Maple Leafs have earned their self a spot in the hall. It’s possible that some of our current Leafs make it as well. With the way some of them are playing, it looks like there might be some additions to the league leading 60 players in the HHOF. I guess we’ll have to just wait and see.
stats from hockey-reference.com, quanthockey.com