Who Are Your Top 10 Leafs Of All Time?

robertmac43

Forever 43!
Mar 31, 2015
23,612
15,738
If you don't have Matthews in your top 5 already, you're just being petty. By the end of his career he'll be top 3, could even make number 1.
I think he has to be top 3 at this point. The two 60 goal season + a Hart. Already a better resume than most greats.
 
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MarMarSab3

formerly #13 & TML4EVR
Feb 27, 2002
4,690
2,239
Toronto
Well if that's the case then my favourite Leaf players of all-time is as follows:

Rickard Wallin
Ken Klee
Robert Reichel
Jonas Frogern
Karel Pilar
Nik Antropov
Darby Hendrickson
Peter Ing
John Pohl
Olaf Kolzig
Aki Berg says hello
 

Twowingcantfly

Registered User
Jul 4, 2019
334
124
Salming
Sundin
Matthews
Gilmore
Berard
Clark
Iafrate
Andrechuck
Kaberle
Kessel
Add 2 stay at home Tucker and a couple of grinders and we have a cup...
 

Lauro

Charlie Conacher
Jun 28, 2008
3,019
1,021
Berlin
From the ones I've seen play:
1. Marner
2. Kaberle
3. Potvin
4. Kadri
5. Roberts
6. Mogilny
7. Cujo
8. Berezin
9. Sundin
10. Leivo
 

Gary Nylund

Registered User
Oct 10, 2013
30,227
22,871
This is tough. My choices are based on a combination of how good the players are, and how much fun it was watching them play.
Only choosing from the guys that I've seen play. In no particular order:
==============================================
Dave Keon
Ron Ellis
Mike Palmateer
Borje Salming
Darryl Sittler
Lanny McDonald
Mats Sundin
Auston Matthews
Doug Gilmour
Wendel Clark

Honorable mention: Paul Henderson, Johnny Bower, Steve Thomas, Felix Potvin, Ed Belfour, Bobby Baun, Alexander Mogilny, Nazem Kadri, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Al Iafrate, Rick Vaive, Tiger Williams, Gary Nylund.
 
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colchar

Registered User
Apr 26, 2012
7,639
1,420

Top 10 greatest Toronto Maple Leafs of all time​


1. Dave Keon: Winner of four Stanley Cups, Keon could be the best player on the ice and the key to winning even when he didn’t score.

2. Syl Apps: He retired at 33, but Apps left an indelible mark on the franchise and the team’s trophy case. He won the first-ever Calder Trophy in 1937.

3. Charlie Conacher: He was big, he was fast, he put the puck in the net for the Blue and White. Conacher led the league in scoring twice and in goals five times.

4. Teeder Kennedy: Never the most skilled player, Kennedy worked harder than anyone on the ice and raised the play of his teammates through sheer determination.

5. Johnny Bower: Bower didn’t suit up between the pipes for the Leafs until he was 33, but became a star as soon as he did. He eventually played the second-most minutes of anyone in team history.

6. Frank Mahovlich: The highest-scoring left winger the franchise has ever seen, he nearly became the second 50-goal scorer in NHL history with 48 markers in 1960-61.

7. Tim Horton: Before his name became synonymous with coffee, the blue-liner was selected to six post-season All-Star teams in his 20 seasons with the Leafs.

8. Borje Salming: The Swede was a prototypical two-way defenceman, giving as good as he got to both ends of the ice and expanding the fans’ idea of what European players could bring to the NHL.

9. Darryl Sittler: Sidney Crosby’s nickname is “Darryl,” after Sittler. That’s really all you need to know.

10. Doug Gilmour: Played only seven seasons in Toronto, but in his first with the team in 1991-92, he put up 127 points on 32 goals and 95 assists – the best season by any Leaf ever


Good list, but I'm wondering if Wendel should have made it?

Jiri Crha
Martin Skoula
Olli Jokinen
Dimitri Khristich
Jason Bonsignore
Jared McCann
Evgeny Malgin
Nic Petan
Ryan Hollweg
Andre Devaux
Chris McAllister


You forgot Jiri Crha and Bunny Larocque.
 

Nineteen67

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Dec 12, 2017
23,126
10,368
Dougie
Sundin
Matthews
Keon
Salming
Sittler
Vaive
Belfour
Mogilny
Wendel Clark because he’s Wendel Clark
 
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AvroArrow

Mitch "The God" Marner
Jun 10, 2011
18,405
19,080
Toronto
Matthews is by far the greatest Leaf of all time, winning cups in a 6 team league doesn't put older players ahead of him. I mean that with all due respect. We have never in the history of the Maple Leafs had a player of Matthews caliber.
 

DitchMarner

It's time.
Jul 21, 2017
10,099
6,885
Brampton, ON
Sundin
Kessel (sue me; I liked him a lot)
Thomas
Bryan McCabe (sucked toward the end, but I liked him a lot circa '05)
Tomas Kaberle

I guess these would be the top five. I'm not sure about the next five. Some players I really liked when they played for TOR: Gartner, Andreychuk, Johnson, Sullivan, Tucker, Ponikarovsky, Antropov, Moore, Stajan, Van Riemsdyk, Kulemin, Potvin. I'm kind of torn on Gilmour. I got into hockey when he was at his peak but was too young to really understand what I was watching when he was at his best as a Leaf. By the time he was traded, I knew of quite a lot of players around the League and played NHL '95 and watched hockey highlights and That's Hockey regularly. I was distraught when he was traded before the Deadline in '97. But the memories now feel really distant and faded... almost as if they're from another reality. I associate my young fandom much more with Sundin and feel more emotionally attached to him after watching the guy for years and years.

I do like Rielly, Matthews, Marner and Nylander. I may put one or more in my top five if Toronto goes on a deep run with this core. Nylander is probably my favorite out of the group. I'm not really sure why; I just enjoy watching him play when he's on. I feel Marner was more entertaining when he was younger than he is now.
 

Jojalu

Registered User
Feb 22, 2019
5,932
7,210
I'm 54 and even I'm not old enough to appreciate Keon, Mahovlich, Bower, etc., etc., And then, even though I saw them play, I was kind of too young to really appreciate Sittler, MacDonald and Salming so it's kind of a loaded question where I think a lot of people are going to add some names they think they need to add because you're supposed to. Not me, I'm going with my real favs (the order is only by date):

- Clark
- Gilmour
- Sundin
- Belfour
- Mogilny
- Roberts
- Kessel
- Nylander
- Marner
- Matthews

Seriously couldn't think of a defenseman I would pick over these players. Don't judge me.
I have been waiting to see Mogilny's name.

I loved him.

Who can forget his quote after Joe N scored in game 7 against Ottawa

Oh, the goalie's got to stop that shot
 
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mjd1001

Registered User
May 24, 2022
347
339
Interesting to see what everyone things. For me, I will only name players that I actually have seen play. There are some probably better but if I never saw them play, I"m not listing them. Also, its hard to rank them in terms of 'best' without personal bias of who I 'liked', so my list is basically a combo of mostly who I think was the best...with a little bit of who i 'liked' mixed into the formula.

I know the list says 'all time', but I have trouble with guys I never saw.

Apologies to Keon, I don't have any memories of him. He probably belongs on this list, just not my list.

1.Matthews
2.Sundin
3.Wendall Clark
4.Salming
5.Steve Thomas
6..Cujo
7. Vaive
8. Potvin
9. Kessel
10.Marner

I could move around my top 3 in any order, and then 4-10 I could put in any order also.
 

hamzarocks

Registered User
Jul 22, 2012
20,679
13,871
Pickering, Ontario
Matthews is the best talent to play for the leafs ever

That is part in him being a generational goal scorer

And partly due to the leafs and Rangers being 2 of the weakest 06 teams in terms of historical talent

We never had a Lindros, Malkin, Forsberg, Yzerman, Sakic etc type player who would be a ahead or comparable to Matthews all time

Our best players are known for their cups in 06 hockey.

Besides that its 4 years of Gilmour which isnt enough

And Sundin who is known for his consistency elite play but never a top 5 player in the league

Matthews will be the best and greatest leaf ever and he doesnt even need a cup for either

He blows Keon, Salming, Kennedy, Maholovich, etc out of the water

Guys with lengthy prime (sundin) also has no cup, great peaks (gilmour, Vaive) no cups

5 more years Matthews will have ~600+ goals and 1100~ pts barring injuries
 

MSZ

Car guy
Oct 5, 2014
9,702
10,651
Scarborough
Well if that's the case then my favourite Leaf players of all-time is as follows:

Rickard Wallin
Ken Klee
Robert Reichel
Jonas Frogern
Karel Pilar
Nik Antropov
Darby Hendrickson
Peter Ing
John Pohl
Olaf Kolzig
No Wellwood on the list?

Here is mine:

Valk
Bohonos
Cross
Modin
Leetch
B McCabe
J McCabe
Kaberle
Roberts
Corson
 

notDatsyuk

Registered User
Jul 20, 2018
10,047
8,025
Matthews is the best talent to play for the leafs ever

That is part in him being a generational goal scorer

And partly due to the leafs and Rangers being 2 of the weakest 06 teams in terms of historical talent

We never had a Lindros, Malkin, Forsberg, Yzerman, Sakic etc type player who would be a ahead or comparable to Matthews all time

Our best players are known for their cups in 06 hockey.

Besides that its 4 years of Gilmour which isnt enough

And Sundin who is known for his consistency elite play but never a top 5 player in the league

Matthews will be the best and greatest leaf ever and he doesnt even need a cup for either

He blows Keon, Salming, Kennedy, Maholovich, etc out of the water

Guys with lengthy prime (sundin) also has no cup, great peaks (gilmour, Vaive) no cups

5 more years Matthews will have ~600+ goals and 1100~ pts barring injuries
I'm not sure about that. For example, Mahovlich was over PPG 8 times in his career, when scoring was lower than it is today.

Matty may be the best goal scorer, but that is not the same as best player.
 
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notDatsyuk

Registered User
Jul 20, 2018
10,047
8,025
Personal favourites, only players I've seen, and I've played defence and goal all my life, so that colours my opinions.

Tim Horton - absolute all-time favourite
Johnny Bower - I had Brian Conacher tell me I reminded him of Bower - one of my best compliments
Borje Salming - he could do it all
Allan Stanley - the original 'snowshoes', but he could hit, and his hip checks were a thing of beauty
Dave Keon - the ultimate professional
Paul Henderson - not a great career, but come on - the game winning goal in each of the last three games in the Summit Series
Doug Gilmour - heart bigger than body
Carl Gunnarsson - always seemed to make the right play, and covered up for Phaneuf better than anyone - not flashy, but effective
William Nylander - the most dynamic current Leaf - just fun to watch
Leo Komarov - crazy, entertaining, you never knew what might happen.
 
Last edited:

Gabriel426

Registered User
Jun 30, 2015
17,082
10,706
Dougie
Sundin
Salming
Clark
Reilly
AM
Roberts
Cujo
Leetch
Lindros(only because he was my fav player)
 

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