1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs season
The 1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 80th season in the National Hockey League.
The Maple Leafs entered the 1996–97 NHL season with the hopes of making the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. Mike Murphy was hired prior to the season as the head coach replacing interim coach Nick Beverley. The team played poorly for most of the season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992. This season would be Cliff Fletcher's last as general manager of the Maple Leafs. In one of his final moves, Fletcher traded captain Doug Gilmour to the New Jersey Devils in February.Offseason
NHL Draft
Regular season
Season standings
Schedule and results
Player statistics
Forwards
Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points
Player | GP | G | AST | PTS | PIM |
Mats Sundin | 82 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 59 |
Doug Gilmour | 61 | 15 | 45 | 60 | 46 |
Wendel Clark | 65 | 30 | 19 | 49 | 75 |
Sergei Berezin | 73 | 25 | 16 | 41 | 2 |
Kirk Muller | 66 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 85 |
Todd Warriner | 75 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 41 |
Ralph Intranuovo | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Scott Pearson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Kelly Chase | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
Shayne Toporowski | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Brian Wiseman | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
John Craighead | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Mark Kolesar | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Defencemen
Note: GP= Games played; G= Goals; AST= Assists; PTS = Points; PIM = Points
Player | GP | G | AST | PTS | PIM |
Larry Murphy | 69 | 7 | 32 | 39 | 20 |
Dave Ellett | 56 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 34 |
Dmitri Yushkevich | 74 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 56 |
Rob Zettler | 48 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 51 |
D. J. Smith | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
Greg Smyth | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Yannick Tremblay | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jeff Ware | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Goaltending
Note: GP= Games played; W= Wins; L= Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals Against
Player | GP | MIN | W | L | T | SO | GAA |
Felix Potvin | 74 | 4271 | 27 | 36 | 7 | 0 | 3.15 |
Marcel Cousineau | 13 | 566 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3.29 |
Don Beaupre | 3 | 110 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.45 |
Transactions
The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1996–97 season.Trades
Waivers
Free agents
Playoffs
- The Maple Leafs failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 1991–92 season.
Roster
Awards and records
The Maple Leafs farm team was the St. John's Maple Leafs, based in St. John's, Newfoundland.