Top 5 Worst Signings In Toronto Maple Leafs History

The Toronto Maple Leafs made a splash this week signing free agent Alexander Barabanov and although the signing looks good now, the team has made many mistakes over the years.

No matter what off-season it is, Toronto Maple Leafs fans are glued to their TV’s on July 1st hoping that they acquire the best free agent available.

For years, fans were hoping to acquire a top-line center like Brad Richards or Steven Stamkos, but for whatever reason the team could never win the star sweepstakes: until 2018, when John Tavares came home.

Tavares was the biggest free agent available and fans had prayed that he would leave Long Island and return to his hometown. Competing against the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders, the Leafs were one of six teams in the hunt for the future Hall-of-Famer.

But then on July 1st, 2018 at 1:06PM, fans went nuts with one tweet:

Tavares’ dream of becoming a Leaf was about to become a reality. Twitter went nuts with over 106,000 people liking this tweet, and the fan-base was overjoyed with excitement.

Although this is an example of a good free agent signing, the Leafs are more known for the opposite. Like every other NHL team, you’re going to hit the jackpot sometimes, but also hit Double-Zero on the Roulette table more often than not.

You can have the best scouting department in the league but sometimes it doesn’t work. The player could have scored 40 goals in the NHL with another team but for whatever reason can’t perform when he gets to yours.

Also, within the Salary Cap world everything comes down to money. Two players could score 20 goals and have 60 points, but if one player is making $2 million more per season, that player will get run out of town because he should have scored 30 goals and had 75 points.

Free Agency is a blast because you expect so much out of every signing, and mediocrity is unacceptable.

However, here are the top five worst free agent signings in Toronto Maple Leafs history.

#3. Mike Komisarek

Contract: Five-years worth $22.5 million

When the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Komisarek, they had hopes of getting a number-one defenseman who could hit, fight and score occasionally.

However, Komisarek was not the player he once was when he came to Toronto. He fought through a ton of injuries and was a liability on the blue-line.

He four seasons, he scored two career goals with the Leafs before being bought-out by the team in 2013.

#2. Jeff Finger

Contract:  Four-years worth $14 million

After playing less than 100 career games in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs thought it would be a great idea to sign Finger to a four-year deal worth $3.5 million per season.

To this day, I have no idea how anyone in the organization thought this was a good idea. There’s no reason why management should have given him more than a two-year deal, and the fact that they paid him similar money to Jake Muzzin is a joke.

After signing with Toronto, Finger played less than two full seasons with the Leafs before being placed on waivers and sent to the Toronto Marlies for his final years of his contract.

Finger would never play another game professionally after his stint in Toronto.

#1. David Clarkson

Contract: Seven-years worth $36.75 million 

Don’t worry Leaf fans, Clarkson’s contract finally expires after this season.

Clarkson is unfortunately the Leafs worst signing of all-time. When the team acquired him in the summer of 2013, fans thought they were getting the next Wendel Clark. Unfortunately the current Wendel Clark probably could have out-performed Clarkson during his time in Toronto.

In terms of first impressions, Clarkson’s was one to remember with the Leafs. After leaving the bench to fight during a preseason game, Clarkson was suspended for the first 10 regular season games.

Although it was brave and fun to watch, things began to spiral from here. Once a 30-goal scorer in the NHL, Clarkson was limited to five goals and 11 points in his first season with the Leafs. Essentially making $1 million for every goal he scored that year. Yikes!

By the middle of his second season, fans were angry with Clarkson and were happy when the team traded him to Columbus. He doubled his goal total in year two, but continued to never live up to his huge contract.

Clarkson’s story is a sad one as his career took a turn for the worse when he came back home to Toronto, but fortunately for him and his family, he was able to capitalize on it.