Editor In Leaf
Fansided

The Top-Five All-Time Best Toronto Maple Leafs Defensemen

By Spencer Teixeira

2004 Season: Player Brian Leetch of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images)
2004 Season: Player Brian Leetch of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
PHILADELPHIA, PA – NOVEMBER 23: Al Iafrate #33 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck during an NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers on November 23, 1990 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by B Bennett/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – NOVEMBER 23: Al Iafrate #33 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck during an NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers on November 23, 1990 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by B Bennett/Getty Images) /

No. 4 – Al Iafrate

Coming in at number 4 is Al Iafrate.

The Michigan native was scooped up by the Leafs at 4th overall in the 1984 NHL draft and immediately made an impact at the NHL level.

Throughout his seven year, 472 game tenure in Toronto, Iafrate scored 81 goals and 250 points, which is good for 8th all-time in Leafs history (for defenders) (via Quant Hockey and Hockey Reference ).

Not to be forgotten, the Leafs finished below .500 for 6 of Iafrate’s 7 years in Toronto (per NHL.com ,to be absolutely fair, it was a different era, in which the majority of the NHL were statistically terrible but still made the playoffs).

Overall Iafrate was able to become a game changing player on some of the least impressive rosters ever iced in Leafs history, which spear-heads him to this position on this list.

Iafrate played seven seasons for the Leafs, and it’s a shame that he left the club just as they were turning it around. In 1992-93, when the Doug Gilmour led Leafs were making a run to the Finals, Iafrate had a career year with the Capitals, scoring 25 goals and 66 points.

Home/All-Time Lists