What if the Leafs never traded Wendel Clark?

[kb]

Remember when Clark fought McSorley because he was standing up for Gilmour? That’s a leader right there.

All at the end of a very long shift, and McSorley had just been on for a few moments. He had no fear at all.

 

[justashadowof]

Remember when Clark fought McSorley because he was standing up for Gilmour? That’s a leader right there.

I remember him standing up for many of his teammates over the years but I also remember him looking the other way while his cousin (Joey Kocur) was taking runs at Clark's teammates.

 

[Langdon Alger]

All at the end of a very long shift, and McSorley had just been on for a few moments. He had no fear at all.

He was a beauty, that’s for sure.

 

[socko]

What if they drafted Craig Simpson instead who was ranked higher than Wendel by Central Scouting... That would have sucked.

 

[kb]

I remember him standing up for many of his teammates over the years but I also remember him looking the other way while his cousin (Joey Kocur) was taking runs at Clark's teammates.

The beauty about it being that Joey let Wendel get away with......everything. lol

 

[jfc64]

Then Avs would have won more cups.

 

[Reydin]

The early 2000's would've been awful. Ottawa rivalry would've never happened as they would've just beat up on us. The Avalanche would've been dynasty.

 

[Ciao]

As much as I love Wendel Clark, Mats Sundin was much more important to this franchise.

Kennedy, Keon, Sittler, Sundin, Matthews . . . am I missing anyone in living memory among the Leafs' great first-line centres?

They don't grow on trees, and not every team has one. It's a long stretch from Sittler to Matthews without Sundin.

And no, I don't put Doug Gilmour in that group. A fine player with flashes of brilliance, but not a cornerstone like the others.

 

[Gary Nylund]

As much as I love Wendel Clark, Mats Sundin was much more important to this franchise.

Kennedy, Keon, Sittler, Sundin, Matthews . . . am I missing anyone in living memory among the Leafs' great first-line centres?

They don't grow on trees, and not every team has one. It's a long stretch from Sittler to Matthews without Sundin.

And no, I don't put Doug Gilmour in that group. A fine player with flashes of brilliance, but not a cornerstone like the others.

If we don't trade Clark, Trump might never have been elected. Or, he could be serving his third term today, you never know.

The only reason to Gilmour leave out is if you consider that he wasn't a Maple leaf for that long. Based on what he did during his career though, he belongs there for sure IMHO.

 

[justashadowof]

As much as I love Wendel Clark, Mats Sundin was much more important to this franchise.

Kennedy, Keon, Sittler, Sundin, Matthews . . . am I missing anyone in living memory among the Leafs' great first-line centres?

They don't grow on trees, and not every team has one. It's a long stretch from Sittler to Matthews without Sundin.

And no, I don't put Doug Gilmour in that group. A fine player with flashes of brilliance, but not a cornerstone like the others.

Red Kelly had a longer impact of the team than Gilmour as did Max Bentley:

Joe Primeau to Syl Apps to Max Bentley to Ted Kennedy to George Armstrong to Dave Keon (and Red Kelly) to Darryl Sittler to a lost decade to Doug Gilmour to Mats Sundin to another lost decade to Auston Matthews and John Tavares.

 

[pucksakes666]

What if they never traded for Phaneuf they could have went nearly a full decade with no captain

 

[DitchMarner]

Clark was awesome in '94, but he was done within five years of that career season whereas Sundin was a very good to elite player for Toronto all the way until 2008.

They were both back on the Leafs by the '96 playoffs and TOR still lost in round one that year and then missed the playoffs the next two years with both guys on the roster.

Unless you think TOR would have somehow done better in the '95 playoffs with Clark instead of Sundin (which seems unlikely to me given how productive Mats was in that series), I don't see any way having Wendel rather than Sundin beyond '94 would have benefitted Toronto while #17 was still on the team.

If they couldn't get beyond round one from '96 to '98 with both players, they sure as hell wouldn't have done so with just Clark.

The Leafs would have missed out on some good years in the late 90s to early 00s as the team would have had to undergo a rebuild during that time. After that, who knows. It's possible they would have built a great team and won a couple of Cups, but it is also a possibility that two or three rebuilds would have failed and the team would be worse off than it is now (at least the current core can make the playoff regularly).

 

[Its not your fault]

Only in Toronto is a bottom pairing pk guy and a broken down grit grinder equivalent to an prime aged elite HOF PPG C. we also got Garth butcher back so he filled the same role as Sylvain.

Righhttt. Only you know checks notes team leader in points? Fantastic Captain to the city. Heart and Soul player.

 

[Its not your fault]

View attachment 463673

Red Kelly had a longer impact of the team than Gilmour as did Max Bentley:

Joe Primeau to Syl Apps to Max Bentley to Ted Kennedy to George Armstrong to Dave Keon (and Red Kelly) to Darryl Sittler to a lost decade to Doug Gilmour to Mats Sundin to another lost decade to Auston Matthews and John Tavares.

Have to agree.

 

[Gabriel426]

What if we could get Lindros for the Nords instead of Sundin.