With the passing of the late, great Cliff Fletcher, it feels like a good time to look back at some of the biggest moves he made as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Fletcher didn’t really deal in small moves. Even though his time in Toronto wasn’t massive in the long-term sense, he still left behind a stretch of trades that shaped the franchise in a pretty real way. Narrowing it down wasn’t easy, but these three stand out the most.
Trade #1: Acquiring Grant Fuhr & Glenn Anderson
The Trade Breakdown:
- Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire: Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson, Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk, and a 1991 fifth-round pick
- Edmonton Oilers Acquire: Vincent Damphousse, Peter Ing, Luke Richardson, Scott Thornton, and cash
He pulled off a seven-player deal with the Edmonton Oilers, bringing in Grant Fuhr and Glenn Anderson, both proven winners with real playoff pedigree. The price was steep, especially young pieces like Vincent Damphousse and Luke Richardson, but Fletcher clearly valued experience and urgency over patience with prospects.
Fuhr steadied the crease during a transitional stretch, while Anderson added veteran scoring and a bit of that championship edge the group didn’t really have yet.
Trade #2: Bringing the "Killer" to Toronto
The Trade Breakdown:
- Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire: Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun, Ric Nattress, Kent Manderville, and Rick Wamsley
- Calgary Flames Acquire: Gary Leeman, Alexander Godynyuk, Jeff Reese, Michel Petit, and Craig Berube
In January 1992, Fletcher pulled off a massive 10-player deal with Calgary to bring in Doug Gilmour, and it changed everything almost immediately. It came out of a contract dispute, but the scale of it still feels wild when you look back on it now.
Gilmour didn’t just improve the Maple Leafs; he completely shifted the identity of the team. Toronto went from trying to figure things out to suddenly being a real problem in the league, with back-to-back deep playoff runs in 1993 and 1994.
Trade #3: Trading Wendel for Mats
The Trade Breakdown:
- Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire: Mats Sundin, Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner, and a 1994 first-round pick
- Quebec Nordiques Acquire: Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson, and a 1994 first-round pick
Trading Wendel Clark at the 1994 NHL Draft was a huge moment for the fanbase, and it wasn’t an easy sell by any stretch. But Fletcher clearly had a long-term vision here, and that’s what led to landing Mats Sundin.
Sundin went on to spend 13 seasons in Toronto, finishing as the franchise leader in goals and points. Looking back, it’s one of those trades where the emotion and the logic both matter, but the long-term result is what ends up defining it.
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