Power Ranking NHL Original Six by legacy

4. Toronto Maple Leafs
Championship Seasons: 1918, 1922, 1932, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967

This one was really hard to quantify. What's more important when it comes to legacy? Is it more important to have an established heritage of winning over a long period of time, or is the sheer quantity of championships more important? Sure, Toronto Maple Leafs fans can claim 13 championships, but 80 percent of the fanbase has never seen one. Think about it. Even if a Maple Leafs fan was three years old the last time they won the title, they are now 60 years old.

The Maple Leafs helped dominate the league in the early years of the NHL. Some might not know, but this wasn't always the Leafs. In 1918, they won as the Toronto Hockey Club. In 1922, they were the Toronto St. Patricks. They won their first championship as the Maple Leafs in 1932, but they are given credit for those first two. Those two give them the edge to have the second most Cups in league history.

Now, we have to talk about legacy. The Maple Leafs won four Cups from 1962 to 1967. They then had a tough stretch, missing the playoffs in '68 and never getting past the quarterfinals until 1978 (and they got swept in the semi-finals). They were perennial losers for decades and decades. Even today, the Maple Leafs are more well-known for losing in the first round most years. They finally broke that streak in 2023, then the Panthers won in five games against them in the second round.

There are stars from Toronto. Starting from now with the John Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner quadrant, going to the Tie Domi and Mats Sundin teams of the 90s, and looking all the way back at Borje Salming and Darryl Sittler. We'd also be hard-pressed not to mention Wendel Clark as a lifetime Leaf (even if he did play for other teams). Despite having stars, the Leafs haven't been able to build on their early legacy, and it's why they've dropped extremely in these rankings.