Top 10 Tampa Bay Lightning Who Were Also Toronto Maple Leafs
May 2, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) d Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY SportsAs the Toronto Maple Leafs continue their playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, let’s take a look at some of the best players to play for both teams since the Lightning joined the NHL in 1992.
I got the idea for this list while watching Zach Bogosian suit up against his former Toronto Maple Leafs teammates which he played with only last season.
Spoiler alert! Bogosian did not make this list, but he got me thinking about some of the great players that played for both team.
Before we start, this is a list of “Top 10 Tampa Bay Lightning who were also Toronto Maple Leafs” and not “Top 10 Toronto Maple Leafs who were also Tampa Bay Lightning.” That means I’m ranking them by their performances as Tampa Bay Lightning and not by what they achieved as Toronto Maple Leafs. Maybe I’ll create the opposite list one day.
There are obviously a lot of players that have played for both teams, and I wanted to keep the list down to a manageable 10 players. Honourable mentions not on this list would include John Cullen, Eric Brewer and Mike Johnson.
Prepare yourself for a trip down memory lane and enjoy the list!
(Stats from QuantHockey.com)
#10 Mikael Renberg
Tampa Bay Lightning (1997-1998)
Toronto Maple Leafs (2001-2004)
Lightning Highlights
Team Captain 1997-1998
Led Team in Goals 1997-98 (16)
After playing his first four NHL seasons as a member of the fabled “Legion of Doom” line with the Philadelphia Flyers alongside Eric Lindros and John LeClair, Mikael Renberg was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the summer of 1997 in a monster deal.
Renberg joined Tampa along with Karl Dykhuis in exchange for four 1st round picks. One pick was traded to Ottawa (Tim Gleason) and the other picks became Maxime Ouellet, Justin Williams and Simon Gagne.
Tampa Bay was so excited to have Mikael Renberg on the team that they promptly stripped the captaincy from Paul Ysebaert and slapped the “C” over Renberg’s heart. Renberg showed his appreciation by leading the team with 16 goals in 68 games.
It seemed like Renberg was truly missed in Philadelphia, so after playing merely 88 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he was traded back to the Philadelphia Flyers along with Daymond Langkow for Chris Gratton and Mike Sillinger.
After two partial seasons back in Philadelphia, Mikael Renberg was traded again. This time to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Rick Tocchet.
Renberg played the final 10 games of the 1999-2000 season plus five playoff games with the Coyotes, but then decided he’d rather play in Sweden which is where he played the next season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs then persuaded Renberg to come back to the NHL and acquired his rights from Phoenix in exchange for Sergei Berezin. Renberg played four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he went back to Sweden during the 2004-05 NHL lockout and never played in the NHL again.
#9 Darcy Tucker
Tampa Bay Lightning (1998-2000)
Toronto Maple Leafs (2000-2008)
Lightning Highlights
Led Team in Points 1998-99 (43)
Darcy Tucker began his career with a 155 game stint with the Montreal Canadians, but was traded midway through the 1997-98 season to the Tampa Bay Lightning with Stephane Richer and David Wilkie for Patrick Poulin, Igor Ulanov and Mick Vukota.
Tucker only played one full season with the Lightning which was the 1998-99 season where he led the team in points.
He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs before the 2000 NHL Trade Deadline with a 4th round draft pick (Miguel Delisle) for Mike Johnson, Marek Posmyk, a 5th round pick (Pavel Sedov), and a 6th round pick (Aaron Gionet).
Darcy Tucker played eight seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and finished off his career playing two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche after signing as a free agent in 2008.
#8 Paul Ranger
Tampa Bay Lighning (2005-2010)
Toronto Maple Leafs (2013-2014)
Lightning Highlights
Led Tampa Bay Defensemen in Goals (10) and Points (31) 2007-08
8th Most Career Points by a Tampa Bay Lightning Defenseman (92)
Paul Ranger was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 6th round (183rd overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.
He would play five seasons with Tampa, his best being the 2007-08 season where he led the team’s defensemen with 10 goals and 31 points.
Eight games into the 2009-10 season, Ranger decided to leave the NHL to attend the University of Ottawa. He left the team at the age of 25 as one of the franchises top scoring defensemen with 92 points in 270 games.
In 2012, Ranger decided to return to professional hockey and signed a deal with the Toronto Marlies (AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs) where he scored 25 points in 51 games.
Paul Ranger joined the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2013-14 season. That would be his final NHL season as he opted to play two seasons in Switzerland before hanging up the skates for good.
In 2018, a documentary feature named “The Mystery of Paul Ranger” was shown on TSN which earned a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Sports Feature Segment.
#7 Anton Strålman
Tampa Bay Lightning (2014-2019)
Toronto Maple Leafs (2007-2009)
Lightning Highlights
Led Tampa Bay Defense in Points 2014-15 (39)
7th Most Career Goals by a Lightning Defenseman (29)
6th Most Career Points by a Lightning Defenseman (130)
Anton Strålman was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 7th round (216th overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
After two seasons, the Leafs traded Strålman with Colin Stuart and a 7th round pick (Matt DeBlouw) to the Calgary Flames for Wayne Primeau and a 2nd round pick (traded to Chicago who picked Brandon Saad).
Strålman would never play in Calgary though as he was traded again later that offseason to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 3rd round pick (Max Reinhart).
After two seasons with Columbus, Anton Strålman would sign with the New York Rangers for three seasons before signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2014. During his first season with Tampa, Anton Strålman had career highs in goals (9) and points (39) and led Lightning defensemen in points.
Strålman spent five seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning and became a top 10 defenseman in franchise goals (29) and points (130). He would then move across the state to sign with the Florida Panthers in 2019.
In July 2021, the Florida Panthers traded Anton Strålman with Vladislav Kolyachonok and a 2nd round pick to the Arizona Coyotes for 7th round pick. As I’m writing this, Strålman (now 35 years old) is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent.
#6 Dave Andreychuk
Tampa Bay Lightning (2001-2006)
Toronto Maple Leafs (1993-1996)
Lightning Highlights
Team Captain 2002-2006
Stanley Cup Champion (2004)
Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee
6th in NHL Power-Play Goals 2002-03 (15)
Led Team in Goals 2001-02 (21)
Dave Andreychuk began his career playing 11 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres before he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs with Daren Puppa and 1st round pick (Kenny Jonsson) for Grant Fuhr and a 5th round pick (Kevin Popp).
After four seasons in Toronto, Andreychuk was traded to the New Jersey Devils for 2nd round pick (Marek Posmyk) and 3rd round pick (traded back to New Jersey who picked Andre Lakos).
After four seasons with New Jersey, Andreychuk signed with the Boston Bruins. The Bruins then traded him at the NHL Trade Deadline that season with Ray Bourque to the Colorado Avalanche for Martin Grenier, Samuel Pahlsson, Brian Rolston and a 1st round pick (Martin Samuelsson).
Andreychuk signed back with Buffalo for one season that offseason and then finally made his was to Tampa Bay after signing with the team in 2001. The Lightning didn’t have a captain when Andreychuk arrived, but after leading the team with 21 goals, he was given the captaincy in 2002.
Dave Andreychuk would win his first and only Stanley Cup of his 23 year career as the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning at the age of 40. The following NHL season was cancelled due to the lockout, but Andreychuk would play one more season before retiring at 42 years old.
Including Dave Andreychuk, only five members of the Tampa Bay Lightning have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The others are Dino Ciccarelli, Mark Reechi, Denis Savard and Martin St. Louis. I think we’ll also see Vincent Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevsky in there someday.
#5 Wendel Clark
Tampa Bay Lightning (1998-1999)
Toronto Maple Leafs (1985-1994, 1996-1998, 1999-2000)
Lightning Highlights
Played in 1999 NHL All-Star Game
Led NHL with in Hattricks 1998-99 (3)
Led Team in Goals 1998-99 (28)
Wendel Clark was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1st round (1st overall) in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft.
After nine seasons with the Leafs, he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques with Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson, and a 1st round pick (Jeffrey Kealty) for Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner, Mats Sundin and a 1st round pick (traded to Washington who picked Nolan Baumgartner).
The next season, the Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche and Wendel Clark was traded in a three way deal with the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. The Avalanche got Claude Lemieux, the Devils got Steve Thomas and Clark went to the Islanders.
Clark made his first return to Toronto the following year when the Islanders traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs with Mathieu Schneider and D.J. Smith for Sean Haggerty, Darby Hendrickson, Kenny Jönsson and a 1st round pick (Roberto Luongo).
After two more seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Wendel Clark signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 1998-99 season. Though it was his only season with Tampa, Clark made a huge impact by scoring a league leading three hattricks and represented the Lightning in the NHL All-Star Game.
Tampa Bay traded Wendel Clark with 6th round pick (Kent McDonell) to the Detroit Red Wings for Kevin Hodson and a 2nd round pick (Sheldon Keefe who is now the Leafs coach). Despite being traded before the end of the season, Clark still managed to led the Lightning with 28 goals in 65 games.
#4 Pavel Kubina
Tampa Bay Lightning (1997-2006, 2010-2012)
Toronto Maple Leafs (2006-2009
Lightning Highlights
Played in 2004 NHL All-Star Game
Stanley Cup Champion (2004)
Led Tampa Bay Defense in Goals 1998-99 (9), 1999-2000 (8), 2000-01 (11), 2003-04 (17)
Led Tampa Bay Defense in Points 1998-99 (21), 1999-2000 (26), 2000-01 (30)
3rd Most Single Season Goals by a Lightning Defenseman 2003-04 (17)
2nd Most Career Goals by a Lightning Defensemen (72)
3rd Most Career Points by a Lightning Defenseman (243)
Pavel Kubina was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 7th round (179th overall) in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.
His best season with the team was 2003-04. The Lightning won the Stanley Cup that season, and Kubina represented the team at the NHL All-Star game along with Martin St. Louis. Kubina also lead Tampa Bay defensemen in that season (17) and was second in points (35) behind Dan Boyle (39).
In franchise history, the only Tampa Bay Lightning defensemen with more career points than Pavel Kubina are Victor Hedman and Dan Boyle. Victor Hedman is the only Tampa Bay defenseman who has more goals than Kubina.
Pavel Kubina signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs after eight seasons with the Lightning. After three seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded Kubina with Tim Stapleton to the Atlanta Thrashers for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart.
The next season, Kubina signed back with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The following season, Tampa Bay would trade Kubina at the trade deadline to the Philadelphia Flyers for Jon Kalinski, a 2nd round draft pick (Brian Hart), and a 4th round draft pick (traded to Ottawa who selected Tobias Lindberg).
After 17 regular season games with the Philadelphia Flyers, Kubina signed in Switzerland and then retired the next season (2013).
#3 Brian Bradley
Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-1998)
Toronto Maple Leafs (1991-1992)
Lightning Highlights
Played in two NHL All-Star Games (1993, 1994)
8th Most Single Season Goals in Lightning history 1993-93 (42)
Led Team in Goals 1992-93 (42), 1994-95 (13)
Led Team in Points 1992-93 (86), 1993-94 (64), 1994-95 (40), 1995-96 (79)
Brian Bradley started his NHL career with the Calgary Flames, but was traded after only playing 45 regualar season games to the Vancouver Cancucks with Peter Bakovic and Kevan Guy for Craig Coxe. After four seasons with the Canucks, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Tom Kurvers in January, 1991.
Bradley was chosen by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft become an inaugural member of the franchise. He became the first player to lead the team in goals (42) and points (86) putting up career number in 1992-93.
Brian Bradley would play six seasons with the Lightning leading the team in points four times and in goals twice. The only Lightning players to outscore Bradley’s 42 goal season are Steven Stamkos (60, 51, 45, 45, 43) Vincent Lecavalier (52) and Martin St. Louis (43).
In 1999, he retired as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
#2 Fredrik Modin
Tampa Bay Lightning (1999-2006)
Toronto Maple Leafs (1996-1999)
Lightning Highlights
Played in 2001 NHL All-Star Game
Stanley Cup Champion (2004)
9th in Selke trophy voting (2004)
9th in NHL All-Star Team voting (2001)
7th in NHL Even Strength Goals 2003-04 (23)
Led Team in Goals 2000-01 (32)
9th Most Career Goals in Lightning History (145)
The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Freddie Modin in the 3rd round (64th overall) in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. After three seasons with the team, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Cory Cross and a 7th round draft pick (Ivan Kolozvary).
Modin’s best seasons with the Lightning were in 2000-01 and 2003-04. In 2001, he led the Lightning with a career high 32 goals, he was 9th in NHL All-Star Team voting for left wingers and represented Tampa Bay at the NHL All-Star Game.
Freddie Modin was a member on the 2004 Tampa Bay Stanley Cup Championship team. He was 9th in Selke trophy voting that year and had the seventh most even strength goals in the NHL (23).
Only Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Marin St. Louis, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson and Brad Richards have scored more goals than Fredrik Modin has in a Tampa Bay Lightning jersey.
In the summer of 2006, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded Modin with Fredrik Norrena to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Marc Denis. After three seasons with Columbus, Modin was traded at the deadline to the L.A. Kings for a conditional 7th round pick that was not exercised. The Kings had to win the Stanley Cup for Columbus to get the pick.
Modin signed with the Atlanta Thrashers for the following season, but was traded again at the deadline to the Calgary Flames for 7th round draft pick in 2011 (traded to San Jose who selected Colin Blackwell). Modin retired in May 2011 after only four games with Calgary.
#1 Daren Puppa
Tampa Bay Lightning (1993-2000)
Toronto Maple Leafs (1993)
Lightning Highlights
Vezina Trophy Finalist (1996)
15th in Hart trophy voting (1996)
5th in NHL All-Star Team voting (1996)
9th in NHL Wins 1995-96 (29)
2nd in NHL Save Percentage1995-96 (.918)
7th in NHL Goals Against Average1995-96 (2.46)
8th in NHL Goals Against Average 1993-94 (2.71)
4th Most Career Wins in Lightning history (77)
6th Best Career Save Percentage in Lightning history (.905)
5th Best Career Goals Against Average in Lightning history (2.68)
10th Most Single Season Wins in Lightning history 1995-96 (29)
7th Best Single Season Save Percentage in Lightning history 1995-96 (.918)
9th Best Single Season Goals Against Average in Lightning history 1995-96 (2.46)
Daren Puppa spent his first eight NHL seasons with the Buffalo Sabres and was traded to the Toronto Maples in 1993 with Dave Andreychuk and a1st round pick (Kenny Jonsson) for Grant Fuhr and a 5th round pick (Kevin Popp).
Puppa only played eight games with the Toronto Maple Leafs before he was selected by the Florida Panther in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft. As recent expansion franchises, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks were allowed to pick a player from each of the newest franchises, the Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
Tampa Bay used their picks to select Daren Puppa and Glenn Healy (Healy was traded to the New York Rangers for a 3rd round pick the same day). Ottawa took defenseman, Dennis Vial from the Ducks and San Jose passed on both picks.
Daren Puppa immediately took over the net and remains one of the greatest goaltenders in Lightning history. Only Andrei Vasilevsky (229), Ben Bishop (131) and Nikolai Khabibulin (83) have more wins (77) than Puppa in a Lightning jersey.
Next. Top 10 Leafs Who Deserve Retired Numbers. dark
In 1996, Daren Puppa was a Vezina trophy finalist and was 15th in Hart trophy voting after putting up the second best save percentage (.918) in the NHL that season.
Daren Puppa retired from the hockey as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the year 2000.