4 Former Toronto Maple Leafs Who Could Turn This Team Around
The Toronto Maple Leafs are struggling this season, despite having some of the franchise’s top players ever skating in the prime of their careers. Sure, injuries have sometimes thinned the platoon of depth players available, and the goaltending has been ugly at times, but the talent level at the top of the roster should be enough to overcome those hurdles.
Given the Toronto Maple Leafs very average 24-14-8 record (stats from hockeydb.com), some of the individual stats put up by their star players are actually impressive.
Auston Matthews leads the NHL with 39 goals and is roughly on pace to notch 70 for the season. William Nylander has 61 points and sits within the league top-10. Mitch Marner has already hit the 20 goal and 50 point marks. Morgan Rielly is on pace for a 68 point year, which would tie his career best.
On the goalie front, despite some memorably horrid performances between the pipes, Toronto’s team save percentage is actually middle of the pack so far. Similarly, the team’s blueliners (other than Rielly) could certainly use an upgrade, but can hardly be blamed entirely for this year’s lack of success.
Toronto Maple Leafs Are Missing Key Ingredients
Clearly, something intangible is missing from this group of underachievers. The whole is less than the sum of its parts.
There are certain former Toronto Maple Leafs who could remedy that. And, no, I’m not referring to the likes of Michael Bunting or Ryan O’Reilly. I’m looking a little farther back in time.
Sure, this is just a bit of fantasy, but is that any different than hoping that GM Brad Treliving will manage to land a top pairing defenseman or another NHL level goalie? I think not.
I present to you 4 ex-Maple Leafs who would elevate today’s team to contender status:
Wendel Clark
To me, Wendel Clark is the epitome of the complete hockey player, and the poster boy for the Toronto Maple Leaf franchise.
Clark was the first overall pick in the 1995 entry draft.
He could score (46 goals in 1993-94 in only 64 games), he was known for throwing thunderous bodychecks, and he would drop the gloves in a heartbeat if an opponent threatened him or a teammate.
Clark was also a great skater, and was actually a rushing defenseman with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades before the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to switch him to left wing.
The key element that Clark possessed, and that today’s team appears to be missing, is heart.
Wendel Clark always played his butt off, and was loved by fans and teammates for that trait. Too many times we see today’s Leafs slog listlessly through a game against inferior competition, or wilt against a superior opponent.
If Clark was on the roster now (as captain, of course), he would put the team on his back and carry them if necessary.
How could teammates not respond to that, and lift their own intensity in response?
Borje Salming
Let’s face it, you could probably pick a couple of current defenders from any NHL roster, add them to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup, and see a significant improvement.
The team needs more speed, more passing, more shooting, more toughness, more everything.
Borje Salming had all of that, and the heart of a warrior. He played 1148 games for the Leafs over 16 seasons, amassing an amazing 787 points (a 56 points per 82 game pace, for 16 seasons!!).
He wasn’t just about offense, though, as he played just as well in the defensive zone, hitting, blocking shots, and clearing the front of the net.
As one of the first Swedes to star in the NHL, Salming took a lot of abuse, and he didn’t back down, spending 1344 minutes in the sin-bin over the course of his career. Those are almost “goon” numbers in todays’s NHL.
Like many of his peers, Salming was stuck for most of his years on bad Harold Ballard era squads, but he always stood proud, and often bloody, on the Toronto blue line.
Today’s team has Morgan Rielly trying to hold down the fort (and he really should be the captain), but another injection of “lion-heartedness” is clearly what’s needed to elevate the modern Toronto Maple Leafs.
Felix Potvin
Felix “The Cat” Potvin played for the Leafs from 1991-1999.
During his tenure in Toronto, Potvin consistently put up solid numbers, and was twice an NHL All-Star.
The Toronto Maple Leafs shouldn’t need their goalie to stand on his head to win games. They simply need the consistency that hasn’t been there since the departure of Frederik Anderson.
Several past Toronto goaltenders could make a huge difference to today’s team, such as Curtis Joseph or Ed Belfour, but there’s one standout moment that makes Potvin my choice for this mission.
At the end of a penalty-filled 1996 Leafs-Flyers match, all the skaters on the ice dropped their gloves and starting throwing down. Feeling left out, infamously unhinged Flyers goalie Ron Hextall flew down the ice looking to pound the smaller Potvin into the ice.
Potvin didn’t back down an inch and surprised everyone on hand (including the other players, who stopped to watch one of the best goalie fights ever) by more than holding his own against Hextall. This was no wrestling match, it was an absolute slugfest (search for the fight online for the most entertaining 53 seconds of your day).
Teams will play with more confidence if they’re comfortable that their stopper will be there to save their bacon, especially so if they also know he’s as tough as they are.
Statistically, you could name several Toronto Maple Leafs goalies of the modern era that perhaps outshone Potvin. But Potvin’s consistency, acrobatic style and take-no-prisoners attitude are just what today’s Leafs team needs between the pipes.
Mats Sundin
As scorers, Mats Sundin and John Tavares are very similar players. Sundin averaged a point per game over a career of 1346 NHL games, while Tavares has averaged just under a point per game in 1074 games.
Both serve(d) as captains of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and both are very classy, respected players on and off the ice.
There are a couple of key differences between them, however. First, Sundin was 6’5” and 230 lbs, while Tavares is 6’1” and 210 lbs. Sundin racked up 1093 minutes of penalties in his career, while Tavares sits at 455.
Tavares takes a lot of punishment standing in front of the net (and credit to him for that), but Sundin was quietly meaner, and would give it right back. Skill backed up by grit is an effective combination.
The second difference is in leadership ability, or “presence”. Sundin had it in spades. Tavares, not so much.
Today’s Toronto Maple Leafs have an abundance of skill, but none of the “Core 4” has shown the ability to be “that guy” that everyone looks to when the chips are down. Leaders make their teammates better.
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Unfortunately for Sundin, he wasn’t surrounded by much talent at all during his tenure in Toronto. If he starred for the team today, I can only imagine the positive impact he could have on the team’s fortunes.