Toronto Maple Leafs: Top 3 most foolish trades they ever made

1. Maple Leafs Help Build A Dynasty… For The New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils had a quasi-dynasty in the mid-1990s to early 2000s. They won three Stanley Cups during that span in 1995, 2000, and 2003. The Devils got a bit lucky because they were basically handed the dynasty in a series of moves.

In 1990, the Calgary Flames helped by trading up in the 1990 draft to pick Trevor Kidd over some dude named Martin Brodeur. All Brodeur did was become one of the best goalies in NHL history. Then there’s the whole Scott Stevens offer sheet fiasco. But the Toronto Maple Leafs helped them as well by trading them the draft pick that wound up being defenseman Scott Niedermayer.

Back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, the Maple Leafs enjoyed setting first round picks on fire, as they’d trade one at the blink of an eye. They were struggling at the start of the 1989-90 season, so they wanted to make a big move.

However, the Leafs also didn’t want to give up their 1990 first-round pick because they were bad. So they traded their 1991 first-round pick for New Jersey Devils defenseman Tom Kurvers. Initially, the trade looked good, as Kurvers helped the Leafs turn around their season and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

And then everything went downhill. The 1991 draft, for those who didn’t know, was considered to be a great one thanks to Eric Lindros, who was putting up eye-popping numbers in junior hockey. Unfortunately, injuries make him a popular “what if he stayed healthy?” discussion, but when Lindros was healthy, he justified his hype.

Anyway, the Leafs started the 1990-91 season horribly with a 1-9-1 record. Though Toronto didn’t wind up with the worst overall record, they did wind up with the second-worst record. Thanks to the San Jose Sharks entering the league, the Devils had the Leafs first-round pick in 1991, which they used to draft Scott Niedermayer.