Toronto Maple Leafs Reportedly Blacklisted Hometown Players From Joining the Team
The Toronto Maple Leafs have several Ontario players on their current team, but in years gone by, that's something that they had reportedly banned.
Given that Ontario is one of the biggest producers of NHL players in North America, it's no shock that a large handful of the current players in the league grew up to be Maple Leafs fans.
That has benefitted those like John Tavares and Mitch Marner, who have all played well while donning the iconic Maple Leaf, but according to Anson Carter, the team didn't always welcome home grown players to the organization.
For years, the Maple Leafs did not want to have local guys play in Toronto. I think there was an internal fear that any success for a local kid who played for the Leafs, they would become bigger than their team.
It's why I commend guys like Mitch Marner who grew up being a Leafs fan and playing very well for the Leafs."
Given how welcomed both Tavares and Marner have been, this is quite the shocking allegation from Carter, who clearly wanted to play in Toronto, but after the team landed Eric Lindros, he never got to represent his childhood team.
Unfortunately, not everyone in the NHL gets to live out the dream of playing for their hometown team, and while some do, it's highly discouraging from the Maple Leafs that this was once their policy, but now with the inclusion of players like Chris Tanev, it's very clear that they made the wise choice to change course.
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| POLL | ||
DÉCEMBRE 12 | 138 ANSWERS Toronto Maple Leafs Reportedly Blacklisted Hometown Players From Joining the Team Was this a wise decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs to make? | ||
| Yes | 24 | 17.4 % |
| No | 114 | 82.6 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||