Best Leaf of all Time

BertCorbeau

F*ck cancer - RIP Fugu and Buffaloed
Jan 6, 2012
56,568
39,259
Simcoe County
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Racer88

Registered User
Sep 29, 2020
12,242
12,214
Mitch Marner of course. Just ask around here and you will be enlightened. Oh and he is also underpaid
 

TMLBlueandWhite

Knies Is The Next Hyman But Better
Feb 2, 2023
2,050
2,104
Borje Salming was the first player I remember watching as a kid.

I was like four or five or something. Salming stopped a puck from going into the empty net. I was blown away by someone who could play goal and be a regular skater too.

I thought this guy could do it all.

I'll have to believe hockey historians that any of the Leafs greats who played before my time were in fact greater than any of the Leafs from my time. I'm not gonna watch a bunch of black and white grainy footage of games from over fifty years ago. Their achievements are written in the history books for all to acknowledge but without ever seeing any of them play it's not up to me to decide.

Auston Matthews is the greatest Leafs player in my life time.

There have been a lot of other players I liked more than Matthews. But in terms of overall skill, ability, and individual accomplishments, Auston Matthews surpasses any other Leafs player that I have ever watched play. The lack of team achievement to go along with what Matthews has done so far as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs is a stain on his record only as much as it is on Clark's, Gilmour's, Sundin's, or the late great Borje Salming's.

Salming might be the first Leafs player I can remember, and he will always be a hero to me, but Auston Matthess is the greatest Leafs player in my lifetime and it's not even close.
 

notDatsyuk

Registered User
Jul 20, 2018
11,606
9,666
Syl Apps was before my time.

I saw a lot of Horton, Keon and Salming, and I can agree with any one of them.

Bower and Sundin just a step below, and none of the current crop qualify yet.

Dorey, Alexander, and Phaneuf I assume are not meant seriously, except perhaps as personal favourites.
 

hamzarocks

Registered User
Jul 22, 2012
21,678
15,290
Pickering, Ontario
Best player to play for TML in regular season history from post 1967 era is Auston Matthews

If Gilmour had played longer here and more of his prime he could compete with his playoff runs in 93 and 94 being elite

Sittler, Keon, Salming, Sundin while legends for the team and HHOF were never top 5 maybe even top 10 players in the league when they were leafs besides maybe a fluke year or so

Matthews has 3 years as a bonafide top 5 player in the league in 2021, 2022 and 2024

Gilmour was a top 5 player in the league in 93 and 94
 
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Ianturnedbull

Registered User
Jun 11, 2022
6,143
5,604
People I am fond of over the years as a Leaf fan:

Thomas
Gilmour
Turnbull
Wendel
Cujo
Lefebvre
Sundin
Rielly
Hainsey (Sorry. You can't help who you like)
Yushkevich

Overall I would place Gilmour at the top.
 
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ULF_55

Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
87,491
19,338
Mountain Standard Ti
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Syl Apps was before my time.

I saw a lot of Horton, Keon and Salming, and I can agree with any one of them.

Bower and Sundin just a step below, and none of the current crop qualify yet.

Dorey, Alexander, and Phaneuf I assume are not meant seriously, except perhaps as personal favourites.

My actual favorite ... Keon.

And interesting Leafs player.

Mike Gartner.


Gartner was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Glenn Anderson, a minor leaguer, and a draft pick at the trade deadline on March 21, 1994.[3] The deal was driven by Rangers head coach Mike Keenan who disliked Gartner for his lack of grit and disappointing performances in the playoffs.

Gartner was noted for his consistency during his career, as he led his team in goals nine times during his career and scored 30 or more goals each year for the first 15 seasons of his NHL career, setting a record that has since been tied but not surpassed. Despite scoring 50 goals only once in a single season, Gartner became only the fifth player in NHL history to reach 700 goals.

1733292050107.png
 
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