Toronto Maple Leafs Have the Weirdest Hoarding Collection in the NHL

Are the Toronto Maple Leafs a Russian nesting doll of Captains?

Some people collect hockey cards, others decorative spoons; the Toronto Maple Leafs collect team captains. General Manager Kyle Dubas has acquired more club captains than I ever had Pogs in the 90s.

The Leafs affinity for team captains has been a little odd. Thanks to the acquisitions, there’s been no shortage of leadership in the Toronto locker room. In fact, the organization has found a way to poach captains from other clubs every single year.

So, who are these captains Dubas has been hoarding?

Toronto Maple Leafs Love the Captains of Other Teams

Patrick Marleau

Let’s begin our exploration on July 2, 2017, the day the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Patrick Marleau. He had already been named and subsequently stripped of the captaincy for the San Jose Sharks. Ever since signing Marleau, the Leafs have found a way to add another club’s captain every year.

John Tavares

When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed unrestricted free agent John Tavares in the summer of 2018, they knew he had leadership qualities. He had been captain of the New York Islanders since 2013.

Thought it wasn’t without controversy, Toronto bestowed one of their highest honours upon Tavares ahead of the 2019-20 season. That’s when they named him the 25th captain in Maple Leafs history.

Jason Spezza

The season following their current captain’s acquisition, the Maple Leafs signed another free agent and potential future hall-of-famer, Jason Spezza. Spezza wasn’t in the role for long, but he was the eighth-captain of the Ottawa Senators. He has remained with the Leafs ever since his 2019 signing. Spezza now holds the position of Special Assistant to the General Manager in Toronto.

That same season, the NHL All-Star Game made Auston Matthews a Captain for the first time as a professional player. He led the Atlantic Division team that included his teammate, Tavares. Matthews would be named captain of the Atlantic All-Stars again in 2022, playing alongside his friend and club goaltender, Jack Campbell.

Joe Thornton and Nick Foligno

One year later, the Maple Leafs were back at it. Jumbo Joe Thornton was the next team Captain Dubas added to his collection. Thornton signed to join the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2020-21 season. He remained with the team for just the one year. Prior to his time in Toronto, Thornton wasn’t just the captain of San Jose Sharks, but he also wore the ‘C’ for the Boston Bruins.

By the trade deadline that season, the Leafs did it again and added another captain. This time, via trade. They picked up Nick Foligno. He had previously held the title for the Columbus Blue Jackets for six seasons.

Mark Giordano

The pattern continued last season. Toronto traded for the first-and-only Captain of the Seattle Kraken, Mark Giordano. Unlike Foligno, Giordano chose to remain with the Leafs.

Ryan O’Reilly

That brings us to this current campaign. For the sixth season in a row, the Leafs found another team’s captain to make their own. This year, it was the St. Louis Blues who sent their captain to Toronto.

The latest in the Maple Leafs’ collection is Ryan O’Reilly. He was named the Blues’ captain in December of 2020.

Even More Captains

While that may seem like an extraordinary amount of captains in one organization, there are currently even more. That’s because the Leafs personnel has some former NHL captains in the mix.

Even though the Leafs President, Brendan Shanahan, had some questionable antics in his playing days, he was was a team leader. Though Shanahan is remembered more for his time with the Detroit Red Wings, he was actually the captain of the Hartford Wailers for the 1995-96 season.

The Assistant General Manager of Player Development, Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, has been captain multiple times. She’s held the role playing for the University of Calgary and also for Team Canada in many international tournaments. That includes her captaincy of the 2010 Olympic team that won a gold medal in Vancouver.

Even the Leafs coach, Sheldon Keefe, had his turn leading a team on the ice. He was the captain of the Barrie Colts during his playing days in the OHL.

Dubas may not have started the captains collection (that distinction belongs to Lou Lamoriello), but every year in his tenure as GM has seen the same activity. Let the speculation begin as to whom Dubas brings into the fold next season to keep the tradition alive.