I recently put together the Toronto best Maple Leafs all-time Canadian lineup featuring some of the greatest players to ever play for the. Today, we take a look at the United States, as I present the Maple Leafs’ all-time American lineup.
Before we get into things, it should be stated that the Maple Leafs’ all-time American lineup does not come close to the Canadian lineup. Per Quanthockey.com, 776 Canadian players (75.9%) have played at least one game for the Maple Leafs compared to the 112 from America (11.0%), so my pickings were very slim when it came to who deserved to be in this 20-man lineup when it came to talent and how their tenure with the organization went.
Forwards:
| James van Riemsdyk | Auston Matthews | Phil Kessel |
| Tom Fergus | Ed Olczyk | Jason Blake |
| Matthew Knies | Tim Connolly | Lee Stempniak |
| Nick Robertson | Bates Battaglia | Tom Fitzgerald |
van Riemsdyk – Matthews – Kessel
I’m going full-on goal-scoring for line one. James van Riemsdyk, Auston Matthews and Phil Kessel are three of the best American players to ever wear the Maple Leaf, and Matthews is already arguably the greatest Maple Leaf of all time, but that’s for a different day.
This trio never played with each other, but van Riemsdyk and Matthews did play together for two seasons, and van Riemsdyk and Kessel did as well for three seasons.
Toronto fans had van Riemsdyk and Kessel as the guy to score goals before the Matthews era started. Whenever they scored 30 goals, it was amazing to see. Now, when Matthews hits 40, it’s usual business
van Riemsdyk was dealt to Toronto in a one-for-one trade for Luke Schenn ahead of the 2012-13 season and instantly became one of its best players. He recorded 32 points in his first season with the team (48-game shortened season due to the 2012-13 lockout) and contributed seven points in seven playoff games. He went on to play a total of 413 games for the franchise, scoring 153 goals, which ranks third among American forwards, and 294 points.
Kessel was an electric player to watch for this team during his six-year career in the blue and white. In 446 games, Kessel scored 181 goals and added 213 assists for 394 points, which is good enough for second all-time among American-born Maple Leaf skaters. He recorded three consecutive 30-goal seasons upon coming to the Maple Leafs and was named an all-star on three separate occasions (2011, 2012, and 2015).
Lastly, we have Auston Matthews. Not only is he the greatest American skater to play for the Maple Leafs, but he’s in the conversation for the greatest Maple Leaf ever. Since being drafted first overall in 2016, Matthews has more goals than anybody in the NHL (368) and is climbing the Toronto Maple Leafs’ record books lists rapidly. Through his first eight years in the league, Matthews has 649 points in 562 games, three Rocket Richard Trophies (2021, 2022, and 2024), a Hart Trophy (2022), a Ted Lindsay Award (2022) and a Calder Trophy (2017). And with his new four-year extension set to kick in at the start of the 2024-25 season, it’s safe to say he’ll likely add to this list even more.
Fergus – Olczyk – Blake
The next forward line takes a step back in comparison to the first line, but this trio still had good moments with Toronto, starting with Tom Fergus, who played seven seasons with the Maple Leafs. Fergus skated in 357 games, scoring 118 goals and adding 179 assists for 297 points, putting him third all-time for points among American skaters to play for Toronto. He notched 73 points in his first season with the team, tying a career-high he set the year prior in Boston, but never topped 70 points again, as he would put up 49 points, 50 points, 67 points, 45 points, nine points and four points in his next six seasons.
Ed Olczyk didn’t play in Toronto as long as he did in Winnipeg or Chicago, but his four seasons with the Maple Leafs were very productive. Three of his four highest point seasons came with Toronto between 1987-88 and 1989-90 when he registered 75 points, 90 points and 88 points. Olczyk’s 267 points with the franchise ranks him 50th all-time among skaters to play for the team and fifth among American forwards.
Closing out the second line is Jason Blake. Blake signed with the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2007-08 season following six years with the New York Islanders. He went on to skate in 216 games, scoring 50 goals and adding 91 assists for 141 points, the best points per game among any team he played with. Blake won the 2008 Bill Masterton Trophy with the Maple Leafs, annually awarded to the player which best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication.
Knies – Connolly – Stempniak
This group may have not played many games with the Maple Leafs, but there was an emphasis on quality, starting with Matthew Knies on the left wing. Knies submitted a solid rookie campaign in 2023-24, scoring 15 goals and adding 20 assists for 35 points in 80 games. Likely pencilled alongside Auston Matthews on the top line this coming season, Knies is in store for another solid season as he continues to grow into a very good top-six power forward for this team.
Through the middle we have a man who spent his final year in the NHL with the Maple Leafs in Tim Connolly. Connolly spent eight of the first 10 years of his career with the Buffalo Sabres before coming to Toronto for the 2011-12 season when he recorded 36 points — 13 goals and 23 assists — in 70 games.
On the right will be Lee Stempniak, who played 14 years in the NHL with 10 different teams, including the Maple Leafs for two seasons between 2008-09 and 2009-10, following a trade that saw him come to Toronto from St. Louis in exchange for Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo. In 123 games with the organization, Stempniak scored 25 goals and recorded 61 points, which ranks seventh among American forwards in Maple Leafs history.
Robertson – Battaglia – Fitzgerald
This fourth line has 317 career games combined between them in a Maple Leafs jersey. We have Nick Robertson, starting at left wing. At the time of this filing, Robertson may or may not be a Maple Leaf this coming season, providing the team with a trade request. For now, his 17 goals and 34 points in 87 career games have earned him a spot on this roster alongside Bates Battaglia and Tom Fitzgerald.
Centring the fourth line is Bates Battaglia and despite his short two-year stint with Toronto before retiring after the 2007-08 season, Battaglia had one of his most productive seasons during his first season with Toronto, scoring 12 goals and recording 31 points in 82 games. He would play another 13 games the following season, but went pointless, concluding his time with Toronto with 31 points in 95 games.
The last player in this forward group is Tom Fitzgerald, and like Battaglia, only spent two seasons in Toronto, recording just above 30 points (34) in 135 games. Fitzgerald was part of the 2003-04 Maple Leafs team that had a shot to make a deep playoff run but ultimately fell short in the second round to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Defence:
| Al Iafrate | Jake Gardiner |
| Bryan Berard | Justin Holl |
| Tom Kurvers | Brian Leetch |
Iafrate – Gardiner
Al Iafrate was the Maple Leafs’ fourth overall selection in the 1984 NHL draft and to this day, no other American defenceman has more points in Maple Leafs history than him. Iafrate spent the first six and a half seasons of his NHL career in the blue and white before being traded to the Washington Capitals in January 1991. Iafrate went on to play until the conclusion of the 1997-98 season but a bulk of his career games played, goals, assists and points came in Toronto. During the 1989-90 season, Iafrate finished sixth in Norris voting following his 63-point season in 75 games.
Whether you enjoyed his time in Toronto or not, Jake Gardiner ranks first in games played among American defensemen (551 games) and second in points (245) all-time in Maple Leafs history. He was originally a draft selection of the Anaheim Ducks in 2008 and was dealt to Toronto in early 2011, along with Joffrey Lupul, in exchange for Francois Beauchemin and a draft pick.
Gardiner didn’t win any hardware or receive any all-star nods with Toronto but he did finish sixth in the 2012 Calder voting behind Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Henrique, Matt Read and Carl Hagelin.
Berard – Holl
The second pair doesn’t get much better in comparison to the Canadian team. Bryan Berard only spent a season and a half with the Maple Leafs. Despite only playing in 102 games with the organization, he registered 49 points, which ranks sixth all-time among American blueliners and 252nd among all skaters.
Justin Holl, like Jake Gardiner, was a polarizing player with the Maple Leafs. They were good at times but when they were bad, you heard about it forever.
Holl wasn’t originally drafted by Toronto but made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs during the 2017-18 season and became the first defenceman in Maple Leafs history to score his first two career goals during his first two career games. Holl wouldn’t become a regular in the lineup until the 2019-20 season and went on to play 285 games with the organization, recording 82 points, before signing with the Detroit Red Wings during the 2023 off-season.
Kurvers – Leetch
For the last pairing, I’ve gone with Tom Kurvers and Brian Leetch. Kurvers wasn’t a Maple Leaf for long but had a fantastic full season in 1989-90, recording 52 points in 70 games. He began the following season (1990-91) with Toronto, but three points in his first 19 games that year weren’t good enough and was shipped to Vancouver for Brian Bradley.
Fun fact: Kurvers was acquired from the New Jersey Devils after playing one game with them in the 1989-90 season for a 1991 first-round pick… that first-round pick turned out to become Scott Niedermayer.
His defence partner is another player who wasn’t here for long, but he deserved to be mentioned for the name and career. His spot could easily be replaced by someone else. But for now, Brian Leetch made my lineup. He was acquired from the New York Rangers ahead of the team’s 2004 playoff run, and in 15 regular season games, scored two goals and added 13 assists for 15 points. He then added eight points, all assists, in 13 playoff games that year. The lockout happened in 2004-05 and Leetch later signed with the Boston Bruins for the 2005-06 season and then retired.
Goalies:
| Jack Campbell | Joseph Woll |
Campbell – Woll
You may be a little shocked seeing Jack Campbell and Joseph Woll as the two goalies to represent the USA but two were the best options. There are only four American goalies inside the top 50 in games played for Toronto and these two gentlemen make up 50 percent with the other 50 percent being Damian Rhodes and Garret Sparks, so I decided to go with a former fan favourite and their potential goalie of the future.
Let’s begin with Jack Campbell. He was acquired by the Maple Leafs in early 2020 from the Los Angeles Kings in a package deal that included Kyle Clifford and saw Toronto send young undrafted winger Trevor Moore the other way. Toronto, at the time, was very desperate for saves and decided that Campbell, who put up respectable numbers as a backup goalie, could help solve its short-term and possibly long-term problems.
Campbell did just that upon arriving in Toronto. Before the 2019-20 season shutdown, Campbell started in six games, going 3-2-1, posting a .915 SV% and a 2.63 GAA, giving fans hope that they may have someone they could trust between the pipes. The following season, from 2020 to 21, with Frederik Andersen back healthy, Campbell didn’t see much action until he was called upon when the veteran Danish netminder went down again, allowing Campbell to take control of the crease.
As you may recall, Campbell made NHL history to begin his season that year, winning the first 11 games. He would ultimately finish the year with a crazy record of 17-3-2, posting even crazier numbers between the pipes (.921 SV% and 2.15 GAA). Suddenly, Toronto had a goalie who put up elite numbers through his first 28 games, but he hadn’t played a full season yet, meaning the 2021-22 season was going to be an important one for him.
Campbell continued his success in 2021-22, posting a record of 31-9-6 to go along with a .914 SV% and 2.64 GAA, however, consistency was an issue, and Toronto ultimately let him walk in free agency in 2022.
Joseph Woll hasn’t had as much NHL experience, but the 26-year-old goalie has shown a lot of promise through his first 36 games. Between 2021-22 and last season, Woll has a record of 21-13-1 with a career .912 sv% and a 2.76 GAA. And with his recent three-year contract extension announced earlier this off-season, Woll will quickly climb the ranks as the best American goalie in franchise history.
(Stats from Quanthockey.com)
