The Toronto Maple Leafs, being an original six team, have a very long and rich history as an NHL franchise. From the Ballard era to the Shanahan era, from captains such as Darryl Sittler to Mats Sundin, and now Auston Matthews, Toronto has a history of great players.
However, Toronto has a long history of trading or letting good players slip from their grasp as well.
Today, we’ll highlight players who have left the organization and went on to find key roles on other teams. Our criteria will be players who hit their prime within the Shanahan era, and no trades where players were traded for solely draft picks. So trades trauma like Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft, and Phil Kessel for what would turn into Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton are off limits.
Zach Hyman
Perhaps the most impactful player that left the Maple Leafs organization was Zach Hyman.
Hyman is known to go into the dirty areas as well as play with heart and hustle. Coming off a 15-goal, 33-point season and a $2.25M AAV, four-year contract in 2020–21, Hyman wanted a long-term deal in the $5-5.5M AAV range. However, then General Manager Kyle Dubas decided not to sign Hyman, and he signed with the Edmonton Oilers on a $5.5M AAV, seven-year contract.
Hyman would go on to have his best years playing alongside Connor McDavid. In his first season with Edmonton, he achieved a career-high in goals and points with 27 and 54 respectively. More recently in 2023–24, he not only scored a career-high 54 goals in the regular season but also had a career-high in goals and points in the playoffs with 16 and 22 respectively, helping lead his team to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Florida Panthers.
At the time Hyman signed his contract with Edmonton, many saw this as too rich. Suffice it to say Toronto could use Hyman’s production in both the regular season and the playoffs for his relatively small cap hit.
Mason Marchment
Mason Marchment was an undrafted Toronto Marlies signee in 2016. He also played 35 games for then Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliate Orlando Solar Bears in the 2016–17 season.
Marchment had a breakout season with the Marlies the following year, notching 11 goals and 26 points and helping Toronto win the Calder Cup in 2017-18.
The forward only played four regular season games with the Maple Leafs in the 2019–20 season, before being traded to the Florida Panthers on Feb. 19, 2020, for Denis Malgin. In his first season with the Panthers, Marchment tallied two goals and 10 points.
Then, Marchment broke out. He increased his production to a stellar 18 goals and 47 points in 54 games with Florida, then, on July 13, 2022, Marchment signed a $4.5M AAV, four-year contract with the Dallas Stars.
Marchment reached a career-high in goals and points during the 2023–24 season with 22 and 53.
Everyone loves a good underdog story like Marchment. He did not play major junior hockey until the age of 19, bounced around in the ECHL and AHL for years, and finally made it as an NHL regular. And he’d be a huge help to the Leafs right now, but things didn’t work out that way.
Trevor Moore
Similar to Marchment, Trevor Moore was undrafted and signed with the Maple Leafs organization in the summer of 2016. Moore had consistent seasons with the Toronto Marlies, notching 33 points in the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons, and 39 points in the 2018–19 season. As with Marchment, Moore helped the Marlies win the Calder Cup in the 2017–18 season.
Moore was given an extended opportunity with the Maple Leafs in 2018–19, where he had eight points in 25 games. In the following year, 2019–20, he had five points in 27 games before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that sent Jack Campbell to Toronto.
Moore tied his five points in his 15 games with the Kings to end the year, for a total of 10 points in the 2019–20 season. In 2020–21, Moore scored just 23 points, but the following season, he more than doubled his production, tallying 17 goals and 48 points. Last season, Moore scored a new career-high of 31 goals to go along with 26 assists.
Moore has shown improvement each year. As a result, he signed a $4.2M AAV, five-year contract extension on Dec. 15, 2022 with the Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Moore did not fit in with Toronto, but his tenacious play and fast foot speed clearly fit in with the Kings.
Carter Verhaeghe
The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Carter Verhaeghe in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He only played two games for the Toronto Marlies before bouncing around various AHL and ECHL affiliates.
In 2018–19, his last season with the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL, Verhaeghe scored 34 goals and 82 points in 76 games. He then got his shot in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring nine goals and 13 points in 52 games in 2019–20.
Due to salary cap restraints, Verhaeghe was not tendered a qualifying offer and signed a $1M AAV, two-year deal with the Panthers, where Verhaeghe knocked it out of the park.
Over the next two seasons, he scored 36 and 55 points respectively. Then, after signing a $4.17M AAV, three-year contract, Verhaeghe went on to have the most productive season of his career so far. In the 2022–23 season, he scored 42 goals and 73 points. The next year, he scored 34 goals and 72 points in five fewer games, and 11 goals and 21 points in the playoffs, helping the Panthers win the Stanley Cup.
It would be foolish to put the blame solely on the Maple Leafs for letting Verhaeghe go. After all, Tampa Bay let Verhaeghe go after playing 52 games at the NHL level. Nevertheless, Verhaeghe, as with the other players on this list, showed that hard work and persistence pay off. And, that perhaps Toronto gave up on these players too early.
