According to Hockey Reference, 69 players—59 skaters and 10 goalies—have played for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers. Technically, that number should now be 70 as the news of John Klingberg signing with the Oilers broke yesterday.
One of the first reactions here at 6ix On Ice, when the Klingberg signing broke, was it seems like a lot of ex-Leafs end up as Oilers. We thought we’d check, and look at how each player fared on either team.
As it turns out, there are a lot of players who first played for the Leafs, then the Oilers so we had to narrow it a bit. We first looked for players since 2010, which is still 17 of them. Then we included only “notable” players, an entirely subjective metric. This left us with our final list of seven players, six skaters and one goalie.
Skaters:
Zach Hyman:
Zach Hyman played 345 for the Leafs between 2016 and 2021. He ingratiated himself with the fanbase, developing into a hard forechecker who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty in the corners or bang in net-front goals. He put up 86 goals and 99 assists for 185 points as a Leaf, a PPG of 0.54. It was in Edmonton however, that his offensive capability really thrived. In his first season with the Oilers, he put up 27 goals and 27 assists for 54 points, a career high. The following season he put up 83 points. Last season he regressed very slightly to a still quite respectable 77. Over 275 games as an Oiler so far, he has netted 240 points for a PPG of 0.87. Of all the players on this list, this is probably the one that hurts the most to lose.
Connor Brown:
Drafted by the Leafs in the sixth round of the 2012 NHL Draft, Connor Brown became a full-time NHLer in the 2016–17 season. Over his three full seasons in Toronto, Brown did not miss a single game, lacing up all 246 times between 2016–19. In 253 total games (he played seven times in 2015–16) Brown scored 43 goals with 56 assists for 99 points. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2019 alongside Nikita Zaitsev and Michael Carcone for a package that included Cody Ceci, who will appear later on this list. With the Senators granting him a higher spot in the lineup, Brown netted 47 goals and 70 assists for 117 points over 191 games. He signed with the Edmonton Oilers in 2023 and over 116 games so far he has 31 points, his worst PPG out of the three teams mentioned.
Travis Dermott:
Travis Dermott was drafted in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Initially a success story of the Leafs prospect system, Dermott graduated to the big club in the 2017–18 season. He found a spot in the lineup as a puck-moving defenceman putting up 17 points in 64 games in the 2018–19 season. However, as the Leafs tried to transition to a more defensive game, he was pushed down the depth chart by players like Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren. By the 2021–22 season, he was a regular healthy scratch and was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in March 2022. Once again he struggled to find a spot in the lineup putting up only three points in 28 games. He joined the Arizona Coyotes for the 2023–24 season, and signed with the Oilers this offseason. In 10 games, he put up zero points before being claimed by the Minnesota Wild off waivers in December.
Kasperi Kapanen:
Kasperi Kapanen was a polarizing player with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Often showing flashes of the skill he clearly has, he was also known for questionable decision-making (remember him throwing his broken stick). Between 2015 and 2020 he played 202 games for the Buds, scoring 41 times and assisting 49 times for 90 points. The former first-round pick by the Penguins was traded back to Pittsburgh in 2020. The Pens waived him in Feb. 2023, where he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues who in turn waived him in Nov. 2024. He was then claimed by Edmonton where in 24 games has four goals and three assists.
Tyson Barrie:
Another polarizing defenceman on the list, Tyson Barrie was acquired in the 2019 offseason from the Colorado Avalanche in the Kadri trade. Dubbed an “offenceman”, Barrie was supposed to add a scoring threat to Toronto’s blueline, but got off to a glacial start with zero goals and seven assists in his first 25 games. He picked up after that, finishing the season with five goals and 34 assists. However, his poor defensive play and occasional blunders meant his time in Toronto ended after one season. He signed with Edmonton that offseason where he played most of three seasons, scoring 132 points in 190 games. He was traded to Nashville in February 2023 where he struggled with injuries playing only 41 games in the 2023–24 season. This offseason he signed with the Calgary Flames where he has two points in nine games played.
Cody Ceci:
It’s slightly ironic that the player we traded for Cody Ceci (Connor Brown) ended up on the same different team as him a few years later. Initially seen as a boon, as we managed to clear the cap of Nikita Zaitsev’s albatross of a contract, fans quickly understood why Ottawa was equally happy to see him go as we were Zaitsev. In an injury-riddled 2019–20 season, he netted one goal and seven assists over 56 games. His lack of production wasn’t the only issue as, while his personal underlying numbers weren’t terrible, the team regressed in defence, PK, and offence with Ceci on the ice. He had a zero WAR and negative GAR, and was another of Morgan Reilly’s unhelpful partners. He signed with the Oilers for the 2021–22 season, where he’s put up 68 points in 237 games. This past offseason he was traded to the San Jose Sharks where, on the first pairing, he has 12 points in 47 games.
Goalies:
Jack Campbell:
I know I said Zach Hyman is the loss that hurts the most, but Jack Campbell is the player I feel the most sad about. A beloved Leaf for his constant positivity and smile, ‘Soup’ was a star for his entire Toronto tenure. In a tandem with Frederik Andersen in the 2020–21 season, he put up an impressive .921 SV% in 22 games with a GAA of 2.15. The next season as the starter, backed up by Mrazek and Woll, he once again was solid with a .914 SV% and 2.64 GAA over 49 games. Requiring a new contract, and the raise that comes with it, the Leafs were both incapable and unwilling to pay and so Jack Campbell took his talents to Edmonton. Fortunately (for the Leafs) and unfortunately (for Jack Campbell) he was unable to return to form and struggled significantly putting up an abysmal .888 SV% and a shocking 3.41 GAA. After a terrible start to the 2023–24 season, putting up an .873 SV% in 5 games, he was demoted to the AHL where he remains after signing with the Detroit Red Wings this offseason.
Honorable Mentions:
Skaters:
Tyler Ennis:
Leafs tenure: 2018-19, 51GP, 12G, 6A, 18Pts
Oilers tenure: 2020-21, 39GP, 5G, 8A, 13Pts
Mike Brown:
Leafs tenure: 2011-13, 112GP, 5G, 8A, 13Pts
Oilers tenure: 2013-14, 35GP, 1G, 0A, 1Pt
Keith Aulie:
Leafs tenure: 2011-12, 57GP, 2G, 2A, 4Pts
Oilers tenure: 2014-15, 31GP, 0G, 1A, 1Pt
Sam Carrick:
Leafs tenure: 2015-16, 19GP, 1G, 1G, 2Pts
Oilers tenure: 2023-24, 16GP, 2G, 3A, 5Pts
Mark Fraser:
Leafs tenure: 2012-14, 64GP, 0G, 9A, 9Pts
Oilers tenure: 2014, 23GP, 1G, 0A, 1Pt
Ryan Hamilton:
Leafs tenure: 2011-13, 12GP, 0G, 3A, 3Pts
Oilers tenure: 2013-15, 18GP, 1G, 1A, 2Pts
Goalies:
Jonas Gustavsson:
Leafs tenure: 2009-12, 107GP, 39W-45L, 2.98GAA, .900SV%
Oilers tenure: 2016-17, 7GP, 1W-3L, 3.10GAA, .878SV%
Ben Scrivens:
Leafs tenure: 2011-13, 32GP, 11W-14L, 2.86GAA, .910SV%
Oilers tenure: 2013-15, 78 GP, 24W-37L, 3.12GAA, .898SV%
This was an interesting read.