The Top 3 Toronto Maple Leafs Not in the Hall of Fame
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a rich history enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Whether it’s the Hall’s location in Toronto, the franchise’s history spanning over a century, or the Toronto Maple Leafs holding the record for most personnel inducted into the Hall of Fame, the Hall and the Leafs have a special relationship.
And yet, with over 60 former players featured in the Hall of Fame, there is still a handful of Toronto Maple Leafs that have a legitimate case to be inducted alongside the greats in hockey history.
The Toronto players currently in the Hall of Fame range from career Maple Leafs, spanning decades and hundreds of games, to a short stint either at the beginning of a career or as their career was coming to a close.
For example, Eddie Gerard counts as part of Toronto’s Hall of Famers, but he played just one game for the franchise as a substitute in the Stanley Cup Finals. Phil Housley is another one, playing just one regular-season game and three in the playoffs before retiring after 2003.
Conversely, you have George Armstrong who played 21 seasons solely in blue and white, plus the likes of Turk Broda, Ted Kennedy, and Syl Apps who also spent their entire careers with the Leafs.
Overall, most of the Leafs Hall of Famers spent a few seasons in Toronto while playing in a few other locations in their career, as is the case for most teams. For the most part, those are the remaining candidates from Toronto’s history waiting to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The career Maple Leafs deserving to be in the Hall have, for the most part, already been inducted. With the lack of team success over the past 50 years, the bulk of career Toronto players deserving of Hall of Fame status would have done so in the glory days of the 40s and 60s and have long been in the Hall of Fame (with the exception of one that we will get to later).
Let’s jump into our first potential nominee, the former Maple Leaf that has the best chance to enter the Hall of Fame in 2020.
Alexander Mogilny
Leafs Stats: 176 GP, 65 G, 166 PTS
Career Stats: 990 GP, 473 G, 1032 PTS
Quite frankly, it’s stunning that Alexander Mogilny isn’t already in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
His career as a Toronto Maple Leafs player was relatively brief, spanning just three seasons and 176 games, but in those, he made an impact as the best winger Mats Sundin ever had.
For what seems like Sundin’s entire Leafs career, Toronto management failed to get him a premier winger to play with. That changed in 2002 when head coach Pat Quinn decided to put his two best offensive weapons on a line together.
In doing so, Quinn created a dynamic duo that was almost impossible to stop. Mogilny would lead the Leafs in scoring with 33 goals and 79 points, the only time in Sundin’s tenure with Toronto in which he did not lead the team in scoring. Mogilny would also win the Lady Byng that season, his lone NHL award.
When looking at former Toronto Maple Leafs not yet in the Hall of Fame, Alexander Mogilny is the easy choice as the best that isn’t in.
His Leafs career came as he entered his 30s and began to decline due to a history of injuries. Even with this, his 2002-03 season is one of the best in recent Toronto history and isn’t remotely close to his peak performance.
Mogilny in his prime was a truly dominant force. His 1992-93 season was immense, tying Teemu Selanne for the league lead in goals with 76 (!). This came when scoring rates were much higher, but even the 62 era adjusted goals are a mark rarely seen in NHL history.
The case for Mogilny isn’t just about his peak. The entire career, 990 games and 1032 points, is enough to get him in despite the injury woes limiting him from ever playing a full schedule. Add in two All-Star team nods and his place as a member of the Triple Gold Club, and the case only continues to build in Mogilny’s favour.
He is put well over the edge when you factor in his importance in the history of hockey. As the first player to defect from the Soviet Union and play in the National Hockey League, Mogilny made history in paving the way for future Russian stars and did so while facing immense xenophobia.
Take all that into account, and then remember he did this as a 20-year-old. And that he was scoring at a point per game by 21.
Simply put, Alexander Mogilny should have been inducted into the Hall of Fame long ago, and hopefully, that is rectified Wednesday and he becomes the newest Toronto Maple Leaf alumnus in the Hall of Fame.
Curtis Joseph
Leafs Stats: 270 GP, 138 W, .910 SV%
Career Stats: 943 GP, 454 W, .906 SV%
Goaltenders are far underrepresented in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The bar for goaltenders in the Hall is astronomical in comparison to the bar set for forwards and even defencemen. While skaters that were excellent, but not necessarily ever the best of the best regularly get into the Hall of Fame, the same cannot be said for netminders.
For a goaltender to make it into the Hall, they almost exclusively have had to perform as the best goaltender in the league throughout their entire career, with a few exceptions (looking at you Grant Fuhr and Gerry Cheevers).
Goaltenders deserve much more representation in the Hall of Fame and the high-end second tier of netminders should be getting more time in the discussions for Hall of Fame status.
That brings us to Curtis Joseph, one of the most notable Toronto Maple Leafs goaltenders in recent history.
As a Leaf, Cujo was consistently in the Vezina conversation as one of the top goaltenders at the time. His stats back that up as well, with a save percentage greater than league average in his first three years as a Leaf. In 1999-00 and 2000-01, his goals saved above average ranked in the top five and top ten respectively.
His Maple Leafs totals are brought down by his abysmal return in 2008-09 as a 41-year-old, in which he posted an abysmal .869 SV% and a whopping -14.95 GSAA in just 21 games.
Looking at his Hall of Fame candidacy and his entire career, however, there is a strong case to be made.
For starters, he has the most games played and wins among goaltenders not in the Hall of Fame (excluding Henrik Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury, who are both active of course). Longevity has historically played a significant role in Hall of Fame status and is the primary knock against star players that had their careers shortened due to injury.
In fact, his statistical profile is fairly comparable to Ed Belfour, who is already in the Hall of Fame.
Belfour edges Joseph by 20 games and 21 wins, but even their more advanced stats are surprisingly similar. In terms of goals saved above average over their entire careers, Joseph trails Belfour by just five goals. When rated over the course of a single season, the difference is less than 0.1 goals per season.
Joseph may not have the awards to back up a Hall of Fame nod, but given his surprisingly excellent statistics and the bar for goaltenders that needs to be dropped slightly, it’s not out of the question that Curtis Joseph could become the next Toronto Maple Leafs alumnus in the Hall of Fame in due time.
Carl Brewer
Leafs Career: 473 GP, 19 G, 155 PTS
Career Stats: 604 GP, 25 G, 223 PTS (77 GP, 2 G, 23 PTS in WHA)
Carl Brewer is a player that has been passed over from the Toronto Maple Leafs dynasty of the 1960s that should be given much more attention and Hall of Fame recognition.
In fact, I’m sure most Leafs fans don’t even know Brewer’s name.
A stalwart defensive defenceman, Brewer was a key component of the Leafs Stanley Cup victories in 1962, 1963, and 1964. In the eight seasons Brewer played in his prime, four of them resulted in spots on the All-Star team at the end of the season. He finished in the top five in Norris voting three times, including a second-place finish behind Pierre Pilote as a 24-year-old in 1962.
On the surface, Brewer has no place in the Hall.
Just 223 points? Just 604 games? For Brewer, you have to dig deeper.
Plus/minus is a terrible stat in a small sample such as a single season. Over the course of a career, with such a big sample, you can start to pull out some conclusions. For me, I take it a step further and look at goals for percentage, completely equalizing between players.
At even strength, Brewer was dominant defensively. At 58.9% goals for over his NHL career, his team was more successful when he was on the ice than multiple other defencemen that are in the Hall of Fame based on their defensive capabilities. All of Jacques Laperriere, Rod Langway, and Pierre Pilote have a GF% lower than Brewer’s.
Laperriere is an excellent comparable as someone who’s career wasn’t overly long, didn’t score much, but was a defensive menace for a 60s dynasty.
Adding to Carl Brewer’s legacy was his combative, forward-thinking status on player rights. At age 26, Brewer stepped away from the Leafs and the NHL after a contract dispute and wouldn’t return until he was 31. Despite five years away from NHL competition, he stepped back in with the Detroit Red Wings to his best offensive season and a place on another All-Star team.
Though player and builder status are supposed to be kept separate, it’s hard to do so for Brewer. He was a major piece in bringing down Alan Eagleson, his former agent, and had stated that he would turn down a place in the Hall of Fame if it ever came due to Eagleson’s previous place in the Hall.
Unfortunately, Brewer passed away in 2001, so we don’t know if his stance would have ever changed, but given Eagleson resigned from the Hall in 1998, there’s a likely chance Brewer would have accepted if he were nominated when he was alive.
Carl Brewer may not have the typical Hall of Fame credentials, but his importance to the Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cups in the early 1960s and his stellar defensive play, he is more than suited to be enshrined in the Hall.
Next. Leafs Squeeze Incredible Value from Future Hall of Famer. dark
It remains a significant long shot, but given the likes of Rogie Vachon and Vaclav Nedomansky have received inductions in recent years, there is a glimmer of hope that Brewer could eventually find his way into the Hockey Hall of Fame.