Hall of Fame blueliner and Stanley Cup Champion publicly reveals that he was almost traded to the Leafs

The list of great NHL players the Leafs *almost* had seems to grow with each passing year. In another universe, Wayne Gretzky, Scott Niedermayer, Roberto Luongo, and Tuukka Rask were are all former Leafs. Bad trades, short-sighted management and in Gretzky's case, a crooked, greedy owner, have robbed fans of the opportunity to see many Hall of Fame players suit up for the blue and white. Now there is another name to add to the list, Chris Pronger.

Big, strong, and above all, mean, Pronger would have been an instant fan favourite in Toronto. A member of the extremely elusive Triple Gold Club, Pronger has an gold medal, a World Championship gold and a Stanley Cup ring in his trophy case. The Leafs could have had a defense core led by Pronger and Bryan McCabe to go support a forward group that still included Mats Sundin, Jeff O'Neill, Darcy Tucker, Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky. At the very least, they would have had a decent chance at a deep playoff run. Unfortunately, we'll never know.

According to Pronger during a recent Leafs' pre-game coverage on Sportsnet, he was very close to being traded to the Leafs instead of the Anaheim Ducks in 2006. The deal on the table was Thomas Kaberle, two first round picks and Alex Steen. Leafs GM John Ferguson Junior refused to part with Steen, instead offering up a young center in Matt Stajan. The Oilers turned the package down and instead sent Pronger to Anaheim for two first round picks, a second round pick, eventual Leaf Joffrey Lupul and Ladislav Smid. Pronger would become a key part of the Ducks' defense corps that won the Stanley Cup in 2007.

The Leafs would move Matt Stajan several years later in the 7-player trade that brought Dion Phaneuf to Toronto. Steen was later traded along with Carlo Colaiacovo in a disastrous deal for Lee Stempniak. Not a single one of the players the Leafs kept, or acquired later, provided the same impact Chris Pronger would have. It's just another in a long line of mistakes and missteps from a front office that remained completely inept until the arrival of Brendan Shanahan.


As Leafs fans, we are all fed up with losing in the first round, but one of the main reasons I would hesitant to fire the current front office is the fear of returning to the god awful post-Quinn era of Leafs management. Dubas and company may not be perfect, but they are a far cry above the other bumbling fools we've seen over the past two decades.