The Top 10 "Leafiest" Things to Ever Happen in Toronto Maple Leafs History

9. Wayne Gretzky

Before he disgraced himself by selling gambling ads and making people uncomfortable with his political views, Wayne Gretzky was the greatest hockey player to ever live.

He owns virtually every scoring record known to man, and is the all-time highest scorer with 894 career goals. In a world where even the most basic fact is contested, not a single hockey fan thinks anyone but Wayne Gretzky is the best of all-time - there just isn't even a close option to argue about.

As everyone knows, he started his career with the Oilers and then went to the Kings before finishing up with the Blues and Rangers.

It was in the latter part of his career where he almost joined the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to Sportsnet's Scott Morrison, Gretzky almost joined the Leafs in 1996.

With GM Cliff Fletcher at the helm, Gretzky was a UFA and the Leafs were intent on bringing him home. Had he joined the Leafs, things could be incredibly different today - who knows?

Gretzky had declined by this point, but he still had multiple 90 point seasons left in him. An old Gretzky would have been significantly better than just about any other player in team history, and its just a shame that this didn't happen.

Insanely, both the Leafs and Gretzky wanted this to happen and a deal was in the works before the Leafs owners nixed the deal. If this had happened ten years earlier, it would be number-one on this list, but regardless, the fact that the Leafs could have had the best player to ever live on their team, even at the end of his career, and didn't, is a complete joke.