1973–74 Toronto Maple Leafs season

Offseason

The Maple Leafs made several signings that would improve their team. At the entry draft, the Maple Leafs chose Lanny McDonald with the fourth-overall draft pick. He would play six and a half seasons with the Maple Leafs. Bernie Parent, who had left the team for the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972, made it known that he wanted to return to the NHL. The Maple Leafs still had his NHL rights, and they traded Parent to the Philadelphia Flyers for Doug Favell and a first-round draft pick, which the Maple Leafs used to choose Bob Neely. Neely would play four seasons for the Maple Leafs before being traded to the Colorado Rockies.

In a first for Toronto, the club signed players from Europe. Toronto signed Swedish defenceman Borje Salming and forward Inge Hammarstrom. Salming had made the all-star team at the 1973 world championships. Hammarstrom was one of the top scorers in Sweden. Both had played for Brynäs of the Swedish League, and the Leafs had to pay the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation for their release. Salming would play with the Leafs until 1989, when he joined the Detroit Red Wings. Hammarstrom would play five seasons in Toronto before moving to the St. Louis Blues.

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|- |1||W||October 10, 1973||7–4 || style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) ||1–0–0 |- |2||L||October 11, 1973||0–2 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) ||1–1–0 |- |3||W||October 13, 1973||6–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) ||2–1–0 |- |4||W||October 17, 1973||5–3 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1973–74) ||3–1–0 |- |5||W||October 20, 1973||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| New York Rangers (1973–74) ||4–1–0 |- |6||L||October 21, 1973||3–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) ||4–2–0 |- |7||T||October 23, 1973||2–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) ||4–2–1 |- |8||L||October 27, 1973||2–3 || style="text-align:left;"| Boston Bruins (1973–74) ||4–3–1 |- |9||T||October 28, 1973||1–1 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) ||4–3–2 |- |10||W||October 30, 1973||7–0 || style="text-align:left;"| Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) ||5–3–2

| Legend:

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

;Scoring

;Goaltending

Playoffs

;Scoring

;Goaltending

Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1973–74 season.

Trades

Free agents

|}

Draft picks

Toronto's draft picks at the 1973 NHL amateur draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

References

References

1. (June 20, 1973). "Gregory enthusiastic about Swedish players Leafs acquire". The Globe and Mail.
2. "1973-74 Toronto Maple Leafs Schedule".
3. "1973-74 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com.