Now that the NHL and Ontario Hockey League (OHL) seasons are in full swing, it is always fun to look at NHL players who suited up for OHL teams. For this article, we will focus on players who once played for the Barrie Colts in the OHL and then went on to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kyle Clifford
Kyle Clifford spent three seasons with the Colts from 2007 to 2010. He became an important piece throughout his time with the Colts, and as his role increased, so did his point production. In his first season, he scored one goal and 14 assists for 15 points in 66 games. The next season, he saw his points increase, scoring 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points, along with 133 penalty minutes in 60 games. In his final year in the OHL, he scored 28 goals and 29 assists for 57 points in 58 games. He and the Colts also went on a long playoff run that year (2009–10); they played 17 games, and he recorded five goals and nine assists for 14 points. Unfortunately for him and the team, they were swept in the final round of the OHL playoffs by the Windsor Spitfires. Before losing those four games, they only lost one game in the three previous rounds.
After Clifford was drafted in 2009 by the Los Angeles Kings, he would go on to play 10 years for them. During that time, he and the Kings would win two Stanley Cups in 2011–12 and 2013–14. Because of his playoff experience as well as his tough-to-play-against mentality, the Maple Leafs were interested in bringing him in. Former Maple Leafs’ general manager (GM) Kyle Dubas used to be Clifford’s agent, so the familiarity was there, and on Feb. 5, 2020, the trade was made.
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The Kings sent Clifford and Jack Campbell to the Maple Leafs for Trevor Moore and third-round picks in 2020 and 2021. He would go on to appear in 16 games and record one goal and two assists for three points, as well as 23 penalty minutes, before leaving Toronto for the St. Louis Blues. After two parts of a season with the Blues, he was traded back to the Maple Leafs and currently plays for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.
T.J. Brodie
T.J. Brodie could arguably be the best Maple Leaf to play for the Colts. However, he didn’t spend long with Barrie. He started his OHL career with the Saginaw Spirit, where he played the bulk of three seasons and did very well. He scored 30 points in his first year, 50 points in his second year, and in 19 games into his third year, he scored 23 points. As previously mentioned, the Colts had an incredible run in 2009–10, and that is partly because they saw the opportunity to win the OHL championship and improved their team through trades. The Colts traded defenseman Ryan O’Connor and forward Michael Sgarbossa for Brodie, Nick Crawford, and a third-round pick in the 2010 OHL Draft.
Brodie would go on to record three goals and 30 assists for 33 points in 46 games and also have one goal and 14 assists in 17 playoff games. He was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 2008 and played 10 seasons with the club, similar to Clifford with the Kings. Brodie was a free agent signing by the Maple Leafs, who agreed to a four-year deal with an average annual value (AAV) of $5.0 million, which allowed him to come home and play for his boyhood team.
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Brodie quickly became a mainstay on the backend alongside Morgan Rielly over the last four years. He has played 198 games for the Maple Leafs and recorded seven goals and 49 assists for 56 points. However, Brodie isn’t known as an offensively-minded defenceman. He is a very good defensive defenceman who can be counted on the penalty kill. All in all, Brodie may be the best-known player to play for both the Maple Leafs and the Colts, if not the best overall player to play for the Colts in the OHL and the Maple Leafs in the NHL, at least for now.
A few honourable mentions who played for the Colts and Maple Leafs include Rich Clune, Brendan Bell, and Ryan Hamilton.
It is always very fun to look back at players who have had long NHL careers, see what junior team they played for, and remember their journey to the show. For the Colts, there hasn’t been a star player to go on and play for the Maple Leafs, but there have been star players to wear their jerseys, such as Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets and Alex Pietrangelo of the Vegas Golden Knights. Again, Brodie may be the best player in the Maple Leafs’ history to wear a Colts jersey, but with time, there will be someone better, but for now, we wait for that.