Toronto Maple Leafs: 15 Best Passers in Team History

Many players have racked up serious stat totals playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and some are known mostly for big goals they scored during their careers.

Paul Henderson was a Leaf, but he is known almost entirely for what he did playing for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series. 

Instead of focusing on the big goal scorers, here's a list of the best passers in team history whose tenures in Toronto were about assisting others' goals in addition to scoring their own. 

Let's see who made the list, some names may surprise you. 

15. Todd Gill

The first of several defensemen on this list, Todd Gill's time with the Leafs was spent mostly setting up his teammates for goals.

During his 639 games with Toronto, Gill racked up 59 goals and 210 assists, showing what his job was on the team when he wasn't playing defense.  

14. Bryan McCabe

McCabe quarterbacked the Leafs power play during his time with the club and totaled a very solid 214 assists over 523 games with Toronto.

His passing was definitely important to Toronto's offense as he finished his time with the Leafs with a plus-63 rating over seven years. Not too shabby.

13. Red Kelly

After winning four Stanley Cups in Detroit, the feisty red-headed Kelly came over to Toronto to win four more. 

While Kelly's 232 regular season assists certainly helped Toronto achieve its success in the 1960's, his 38 playoff assists with the Leafs helped to ensure their championship victories. 

12. Lanny McDonald

Lanny McDonald played seven years in Toronto and was one of its most beloved stars in the 1970's. He totaled 240 assists over 477 games and finished his time as a Leaf with a plus-89 rating, an incredibly high number. 

Funny, I thought all he was known for was his tremendous mustache... 

11. Frank Mahovlich

The first player on this list to crack 300 assists with the Leafs is Frank Mahovlich, whose 301 assists were a huge help toward Toronto's four Stanley Cups in the 1960's. 

Just shy of 600 total points as a Leaf, Mahovlich, with his many helpers, was one of the best players ever to suit up for Toronto. 

10. Norm Ullman

Ullman may only have recorded four more assists than Mahovlich, but his time on the ice was much more productive. 

Over his eight years in Toronto, Ullman posted a plus-53 rating and finished with 305 assists. Unfortunately, he arrived in Toronto in 1968, just after the Leafs won their fourth Stanley Cup of the decade.

9. Ron Ellis

Ellis played his entire 16-year career with the Maple Leafs, winning one championship with the team in 1967. 

His 308 total assists helped place him sixth on the all-time points list in Maple Leafs history. His plus-67 rating helps to show how much he contributed while on the ice, and it doesn't just refer to his 332 goals. 

8. Ted Kennedy

Kennedy is arguably the greatest Leaf ever, having won five Stanley Cups with the team and since he retired at only 31, he probably would have won more later on.

Kennedy is also one of the best passers in Leafs history, totaling 329 assists over his 696 games in Toronto. If only they kept track of plus/minus back then...

7. George Armstrong

Armstrong is yet another player on this list who won four Stanley Cups in the 1960's with Toronto, but is the first to have passed 400 assists with the team.

His 417 assists put him sixth all-time for the Maple Leafs and proved how, as captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team, he could still dish out the puck instead of trying to score by himself. 

6. Tomas Kaberle

For anyone who has ever watched Kaberle on a power play, this ranking comes as no surprise considering he never shot the puck! It was very frustrating...

However, he did rack up plenty of assists during his 12 years in Toronto, a total of 437 to be exact. Kaberle was a pass-first kind of player for Toronto and helped the team score whenever he could. 

5. Dave Keon

Keon is the final player on this list to have won a Stanley Cup with Toronto, or four for that matter, and he earned them all with his 493 assists during his time with the Leafs. 

He played 15 years for the Leafs and managed to finish with a very impressive plus-63 rating. His five assists in 12 games in the 1967 playoffs helped him to earn Conn Smythe honors. 

4. Darryl Sittler

For a guy who put up 10 points in a single game, it wasn't too difficult to rack up huge assist totals during his time in Toronto. 

Sittler played 12 years in Toronto, finishing with 527 assists, plus another 40 in the playoffs. Finishing with a plus-34 rating on a team that was very far talent-wise from the incredible Leafs of the 1960's is a great feat. 

3. Doug Gilmour

The man known as "Killer" racked up almost as many penalty minutes as games played for Toronto, but he also knew how to put up points as well.

Gilmour tallied 321 assists over 393 games played for Toronto, giving him the best assist per game rating (.81) in team history and placing him ninth overall in total assists. He was also plus-55 as a Leaf, pretty solid.

2. Mats Sundin

Sundin played 13 seasons in Toronto and currently sits atop the all-time points list for the club. He racked up 567 assists to help him finish with more than a point per game while he was on the Maple Leafs. 

Sundin also totaled a whopping plus-99 rating as a Leaf, a stat made more incredible considering the teammates he played with. 

1. Borje Salming

Who would've thought that two Swedish players would sit atop this list? Salming earned this spot as he recorded 620 assists as a Maple Leaf, and another 37 during the playoffs.

Salming was a stalwart defenseman for Toronto whose focus was tough play in his own zone and helping his teammates score in the opponent's zone. 

He finished his 16-year stint in Toronto with a staggering plus-155 rating—seven points higher than his goal total as a Maple Leaf. Simply put, Salming would rather his teammates score than have the spotlight on him. Therefore, he is our top passer in Maple Leafs history.