The 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame class is going to be announced this Tuesday. But before they do, it is important to acknowledge whether or not the building in Toronto at Front St. and Yonge St., will have any former Leafs added to the walls.
Here are five former Toronto players that could certainly be deserving of inductions this year, or in the future.
Alex Mogilny
Alex Mogilny is perhaps the most glaring omission ever since he retired. It has been several -- dozens, even -- years of fans and media alike calling for the Hall of Fame board to recognize Mogilny's legendary impact on the sport and league we love.
Despite a stellar NHL career that included a 76-goal season and a Stanley Cup win, Mogilny has been repeatedly passed over. His time with the Leafs may have been brief, but his overall impact on the game -- especially as one of the first Russian stars to make it big in the NHL -- makes his continued exclusion a head-scratcher.
Curtis Joseph
Curtis Joseph's case to be a Hall of Famer has been going on for a few years now and it all depends on if you want longevity of being a good player, or being one of the best players in your position for a few years.
Joseph does have the longevity -- he has the most wins and saves of any goaltender not in the Hall -- but also from 1991-94 with the St. Louis Blues, the netminder led the league in Goalie Point Share (according to Hockey-Reference) in all three seasons.
With the Leafs, Joseph was the key netminder and star behind the blue line for five total seasons. During those years in Toronto, Joseph only earned the King Clancy as an individual award but also finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting and second in the Vezina Trophy voting during the 1998-99 season.
He was at the top of his game and was in the crease until he was 41 years old. That's a Hall of Famer.
Joe Thornton
This is Thornton's first year of eligibility for the Hall and it feels almost too easy to put him here. He's going to get in, and I would personally bet he will be part of the class announced Thursday.
During Thornton's single year in Toronto, he played in 44 games, scored five goals and 20 points, while averaging 13:43 TOI. It's safe to say he wasn't up to his Hall-worthy self during his time here but he has the full career worthy of the induction.
Over 24 years in the NHL, Thronton played 1,714 games, scored 430 goals, and 1539 points.
Vincent Damphousse
There are only three inactive players who have scored over 1,200 points in the NHL who have not yet been inducted in the Hall of Fame. One is Jaromir Jagr, obviously because he just keeps on playing in Europe and delaying his eligibility. The second is Bernie Nicholls, who should certainly be in there already. And the third is Vincent Damphousse, who started his NHL career with the Maple Leafs.
After selecting Damphousse sixth overall in the 1986 NHL Draft, the left winger spent his first five seasons with the Leafs before eventually being traded to the Edmonton Oilers in the deal that had Glenn Anderson, Craig Berube, and Grant Fuhr all coming to Toronto before the 1991-92 season.
Damphousse played 18 years in the league, appearing in 1,378 games, scoring 422 goals and 1,205 points.
Patrick Marleau
Marleau has played the most games out of anybody in NHL history. That alone probably deserves some recognition in the Hall.
His two seasons in Toronto -- before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes along with the first-round pick that would turn into Seth Jarvis, but we won't get into that -- were very productive for someone heading into their age-40 season. Marleau scored 43 goals and 84 points after playing all 164 games he could for the Leafs. In his career, he has 1,779 games under his belt and 1,197 total poins.
First-year eligible former Leafs
Taking a look at the first-year eligible players for the Hall of Fame this year, we also stumble upon several former Leafs. Of course, these are just players eligible for induction and some will certainly not get there.
Brian Boyle was a key deadline acquisition during the years we had fun with this team. Tyler Bozak was the first-line center that shouldn't have been a first-line center. Roman Polak was a loveable guy who destroyed some people on the blue line, but ended up being a scapegoat. Jason Spezza is Jason Spezza. And, well, Tuukka Rask is also eligible for induction for the first time this year, and we don't want to talk about that.