43 Years of Maple Leaf Frustration: 1991-92 Season

Cliff Fletcher was hired by the Maple Leaf owners to replace Floyd Smith during the offseason. Cliff Fletcher was unlike any of the previous general managers of the Leafs in the 1980’s in that he had previous success in building a winner. Fletcher started his hockey career in the Montreal organization and then built an expansion team in Atlanta from scratch, improving each year to an eventual Stanley Cup with Calgary in the 1988-89 season. Having reached that pinnacle, he was looking for new challenges and was hired to rebuild the Toronto Maple Leafs. 
 
One of Fletcher’s first moves was to make a huge seven player trade with the Edmonton Oilers that would bring a proven goalie in Grant Fuhr and high scoring winger Glen Anderson to the Leafs. Going the other was was the team's leading score Vince Damphouse.  It was obvious that Fletcher looked for players who had won before and would bring their winning attitude to the Maple Leafs dressing room. Fletcher’s next major transaction was a bombshell. He traded former 50-goal scorer Gary Leeman to the Calgary Flames in a gigantic 10-player trade that would prove to be one of the steals of all time. The big name coming back was Doug Gilmour who would be the face of the Leafs for the next few years. In order to strengthen the defence, Fletcher was somehow also able to extract veteran Jamie Macoun from the Flames as well. None of the five players that the Leafs sent to Calgary had any great impact. This was a novelty for Leaf fans as they were used to coming out second best in the trades of the 1980’s. 

Fletcher made 15 trades in the first 12 months on the job which essentially was a total remake of the team.   in those deals he traded away 17 players and 4 draft picks and in return received back17 players and 5 draft picks.

The Gilmour trade was made shortly after New Years 1992.   It was too late to salvage the season as the Leafs finished last in the Norris Division and 19th overall. Gilmour scored 49 points for the Leafs in just 40 games and was ready to carry the team. 

Even though the Leafs missed the playoffs, but there was new spirit in the dressing room and fans could see that progress was being made.  Fletcher’s next move was to hire a well-respected coach who also had proven successful. In the summer of 1992, former Montreal coach Pat Burns was hired with great fanfare to coach the Leafs.