2004 - Toronto Acquires Brian Leetch from the New York Rangers
Probably the most forgotten superstar in Maple Leafs history is Brian Leetch who was acquired six days before the organization brought in Ron Francis. As the Maple Leafs were putting together one of their greatest line-ups in the last half century, GM John Ferguson Jr took a huge stab at acquiring the greatest American defenseman of all-time.
Leetch was coming with an additional year left on his contract and all it cost was two prospects, along with a first and second round selections. The two young players they gave up would skate in a grand total of 49 games for the New York Rangers as they went back to Europe; while the draft picks did not amount to much due to injuries sustained by both players.
When Leetch came into the line-up, he was instantly the best defenseman the team had since Borje Salming and haven't had anyone close to that caliber since. The former Stanley Cup winner averaged 26:26 a night and played over 30-minutes three times in the playoffs.
In his first game Maple Leafs fans got to see what made him a legendary Ranger as he contributed three powerplay points, two of which were primary assists. Down the stretch, he had trio of three point games that helped him record 15-points in as many games.
During the playoffs, scoring became scarce with the Maple Leafs scoring just 27 goals in 13 games, but Leetch was still able to provide offense from the back end including having a six-game point streak between the first two rounds. He would finish tied for second on the team in points with Bryan McCabe and Gary Roberts (8). Along with McCabe, they solidified the back end both averaged well over 28-minutes a night during the playoffs.
Being able to acquire a legit number one defenseman with multiple years is what every general manager strides for, unfortunately, the second year would be for not. The 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled and as such, we were unable to see a full season of Brian Leetch. Once the league got going up again all contracts were rolled forward a year which made him a free agent and he signed with the Boston Bruins for one year before retiring.