Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford will be honored by the Ontario Hockey League's Barrie Colts on February 27th. Clifford is currently still in the Leafs organization, playing for the AHL's Toronto Marlies and serving as an assistant captain to Logan Shaw.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Clifford at the NHL trade deadline in 2022. Since being acquired, he has registered one goal and three assists for four points in 25 games with the Leafs. Clifford has spent most of his time with the Toronto Marlies, where he has registered 24 goals and 31 assists for 55 points in 117 games. (NHL stats from hockey-reference.com) (OHL and AHL stats from eliteprospects.com).
Clifford played 753 NHL games over 13 seasons with three teams (Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and Toronto Maple Leafs). He has not played in the NHL since October 24th, 2022, when the Leafs lost 3-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Since then, he has accepted his role with the Marlies and is a leader in their locker room. Clifford has 66 goals and 78 assists for 144 points in 753 NHL games.
Clifford, who spent three seasons with the Barrie Colts from 2007-2010, and appeared in 184 games for them will be having his number 13 retired by the team. Clifford joined the Colts’ organization after being selected 37th overall in the second round of the 2007 OHL Priority Selection Draft. In his first OHL season, he played in 66 games while registering 15 points. During his NHL Draft season, Clifford registered 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points.
Former Toronto Maple Leafs Player to be Honoured by the Barrie Colts
The Los Angeles Kings would call Clifford's name 35th overall in the second round of the 2009 NHL Draft. After being drafted, Clifford played in his final OHL season in Barrie.
He registered 28 goals and 29 assists for 57 points. Clifford never found a similar scoring touch in the NHL and ended up becoming a bottom-six player mixed enforcer.
However, despite all of that, he can still call himself a two-time Stanley Cup winner. He helped the Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.One of his teammates from the Stanley Cup win 2014 is former Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin.
Barrie Colts owner Howie Campbell stated that Clifford defines what it means to be an underdog and that Clifford has an unmatched work ethic. He looks forward to having Clifford and his family in attendance on February 27th for the number 13 retirement ceremony.