Toronto Maple Leafs

Lanny McDonald: The Trade That Broke the Maple Leafs’ Heart

The Maple Leafs had Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler working perfectly together. Then Punch Imlach arrived and changed everything.

by
Old Prof
September 1, 2026

There’s a good chance younger Toronto Maple Leafs fans only know Lanny McDonald as a Calgary Flames legend with the iconic mustache. But before any of that, he was Toronto’s guy. How he stopped being Toronto’s guy is one of the more infuriating stories in franchise history.

Toronto took McDonald fourth overall in 1973, fresh off a big junior career with the Medicine Hat Tigers. He didn’t explode right away. He put up just 31 goals combined over his first two seasons. But everything changed in 1975-76 when coach Red Kelly put him on a line with captain Darryl Sittler. The chemistry was instant. Sittler later said they just instinctively knew where the other guy was going to be on the ice. McDonald exploded for 37 goals and 93 points that year, then kept rolling, becoming one of the league’s top goal scorers over the next three seasons, averaging 45 goals per season.

In a Power Move, GM Punch Imlach Worked to Undermine Darryl Sittler

Here’s where it gets ugly. In the summer of 1979, Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard brought back Punch Imlach as GM. Imlach had one clear goal: undercut captain Darryl Sittler’s power in the room. Since Sittler had a no-trade clause protecting himself, Imlach went after the people around him instead. That started with his best friend and closest linemate. In December 1979, McDonald found himself traded to the Colorado Rockies, then one of the worst clubs in hockey. Sittler was so disgusted by the move that he tore the “C” off his own jersey in protest. Fans didn’t take it quietly either — they showed up outside Maple Leaf Gardens to protest the whole thing.

If anything, McDonald just kept rolling. He scored 25 goals in only 46 games to wrap up that season in Colorado, putting him on a 40-goal pace for the fourth straight season. The following season, he put up 81 points. Then came 1981, when he was traded to Calgary, where the story practically writes itself — he turned into a franchise legend, set the team’s single-season goal record with 66 in 1982-83, and eventually co-captained the Flames to their first-ever Stanley Cup in 1989, right as he was hanging up his skates for good.

In the McDonald Trade, the Maple Leafs Shot Themselves in the Foot

Toronto’s return for the whole mess? Not much worth remembering. The trade is still cited as one of the clearest examples of a franchise sabotaging itself from within. It was a silly hockey decision, based on nothing more than organizational politics. It cost the team a genuine star.

McDonald wrapped up his time in Toronto fourth all-time among Leafs right wingers with 459 points. But honestly, his bigger legacy is what he represents — a reminder of what happens when a franchise lets ego get in the way of something that was actually working.