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Toronto Maple Leafs Top 12 Forwards of the Decade

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 15: Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews #34 looks on against the Minnesota Wild during the second period at the Scotiabank Arena on October 15, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 15: Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews #34 looks on against the Minnesota Wild during the second period at the Scotiabank Arena on October 15, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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WINNIPEG, CANADA – JANUARY 3: Phil Kessel #81 of the Toronto Maple Leafs plays the puck down the ice during second period action against the Winnipeg Jets on January 3, 2015 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Jets defeated the Leafs 5-1. (Photo by Lance Thomson/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, CANADA – JANUARY 3: Phil Kessel #81 of the Toronto Maple Leafs plays the puck down the ice during second period action against the Winnipeg Jets on January 3, 2015 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Jets defeated the Leafs 5-1. (Photo by Lance Thomson/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Toronto Maple Leafs All-Decade First Line

Phil Kessel

In terms of firepower and skill, this first line is deep, and there’s really no contest: Kessel and Marner are by far the Toronto Maple Leafs best wingers of the decade.   As for Matthews, he’s easily the best Leafs player since Mats Sundin. 

Kessel scored 20 or more every year as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs and had two years where he scored 37.  He was one of the NHL’s most dynamic wingers while in his prime, and the biggest blemish of Brian Burke and Dave Nonis’ careers is that they couldn’t ever surround him with a team good enough to compete.

Kessel Totals: 181 Goals, 213 Assists, 394 Points (446 Career Leafs Games) 

Auston Matthews

With three seasons of 30-plus goals and a season that is trending in the same direction, Matthews is hands down the best player the team has seen this decade.

He’s already the best player the Leafs have ever drafted, and will likely go down as one of the best players in franchise history. Oh yeah, and he’s the single best 5v5 goal scorer since he entered the league.  Every player who scored more than he did by his 250th game is in the Hall of Fame.

Matthews Totals: 132 Goals, 109 Assists, 241 Points (247 Career Leafs Games) 

Mitch Marner

Drafted fourth overall, despite many of the organizations fans hoping for Noah Hanifin, Mitch Marner has proved every single doubter wrong and become one of the NHL’s elite right wingers.

He can score, but it’s his craftiness with the puck that makes him so dangerous.

He would be the perfect play-maker on this line, and in his limited time, he’s already established himself as an all-time member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Marner Totals: 73 Goals, 177 Assists, 250 Points (265 Career Leafs Games) 

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