Wendel Clark Trade Tree: From the Islanders Back to the Maple Leafs – The Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs

Wendel Clark is one of the most iconic Toronto Maple Leafs of all time. He spent parts of 13 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs in his 15-season NHL career. Most people remember the trade that sent him to the Quebec Nordiques in the Mats Sundin deal. However, not many people remember the trade that brought him back to the Maple Leafs. As always, it’s a trade that changed the course of NHL history for better or worse.

Clark in New York

Two seasons after being traded to the Nordiques, Clark was dealt to the New York Islanders in exchange for Claude Lemieux. Lemieux is actually part of the Eric Lindros trade tree on the Avalanche side, but that’s not where we’re focusing here. Clark landed with the New York Islanders, but that was not a pretty sight for where Clark wanted to be at that point in his career.

This was the Mike Milbury Islanders, where he was both head coach and general manager. This was also the same time as the John Spano fraud debacle, so if you want to dive down that rabbit hole, it’s a whacky story. As you can imagine, that went awfully, and the Islanders plummeted towards the bottom of the league. Clark was 29, and a team towards the bottom of the NHL wants young blood in place of the veterans. So, when the trade deadline approached, Clark’s 24 goals and 19 assists for 43 points in 54 games, in the middle of the dead puck era, drew some attention.

Sure enough, the Islanders got someone to come in for him, and it was a reunion with his old buddies. On March 13, 1996, we had a trade to announce. The trade was Clark, Mathieu Schneider, and D.J. Smith to the Maple Leafs in exchange for Sean Haggerty, Darby Hendrickson, Kenny Jonsson, and a 1997 first-round pick.

Clark’s Toronto Return

When Clark returned to Toronto, he immediately slotted back into that lineup, scoring eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in just 13 games before the postseason. In the playoffs, he had two goals and two assists in six games, but he was still a minus-6 as the Maple Leafs lost in the first round to the St. Louis Blues. It’s not the return to Toronto that Clark would have wanted, but he continued to be a part of the organization.

Clark continued with the Maple Leafs for two more seasons, scoring 42 goals and 26 assists for 68 points in 112 games. It’s not the vicious point totals of some great players; the late 1990s were the graveyard of goal scoring, so those are good numbers given the style of hockey played at the time. Clark quietly moved on from Toronto after parts of three seasons back in southern Ontario. He had stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, and Chicago Blackhawks before returning to the Maple Leafs at the end of his career for a final farewell in 2000. Clark himself is not a branch of this trade tree, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t all sorts of chaos with it.

Maple Leafs’ Side

Toronto also got Schneider and Smith in this trade with Clark, so let’s start with Smith. If you’re wondering where you know Smith’s name from, he was the head coach of the Ottawa Senators, the interim head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, and an assistant with the Maple Leafs, but long before that, he was a player. He played only 45 total NHL games, but he did appear in 11 with the Maple Leafs across two seasons, notching only an assist.

However, he was traded, along with Marty Wilford, to the Nashville Predators for Marc Moro. Moro played in two games with the Maple Leafs. With trades like this, especially before the salary cap era, these kinds of players were frequently added just to mix up team depth and give locker rooms a fresh feeling. They’re not as frequent now with these players that tend to float on the outskirts of NHL rosters.

Schneider’s Branch

Schneider was a bit of a journeyman, playing for 10 different teams over his 21 seasons in the NHL, spending only parts of three seasons in Toronto. In 115 games with the Maple Leafs, Schneider tallied 18 goals and 38 assists for 56 points. It might not be flashy, but it was a solid contribution to the Maple Leafs lineup.

Schneider was traded to the New York Rangers for Alexander Karpovtsev and a fourth-round pick in 1999. That was used to select Mirko Murovic, but he never made the NHL and spent his career in Europe. Karpovtsev played 125 games with the Maple Leafs, scoring five goals and 39 assists for 44 points, which was good production for a defenseman in the 1990s.

A Pillar of Maple Leafs History

Karpovtsev was traded as part of a deal that brought one of the Maple Leafs’ iconic members to Toronto. On Oct. 2, 2000, Karpovtsev and a 2001 fourth-round pick were traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Bryan McCabe. Infamously remembered as one of the Muskoka Five, McCabe played in 523 games with the Maple Leafs, scoring 83 goals and 214 assists for 297 points as a defender. He had a further 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points in 56 playoff games with the Maple Leafs.

McCabe was a pillar on Toronto’s blue line for seven seasons until he was traded in 2008. McCabe was sent with a fourth-round pick to the Florida Panthers for Mike van Ryn. van Ryn only spent 27 games with the Maple Leafs, scoring three goals and eight assists. His time in Toronto was marred by injuries, and ultimately, knee surgery in 2010 ended his career but, thankfully, allowed him to continue living a normal life. van Ryn currently serves as an assistant to Craig Berube with the Maple Leafs, but it brings the Maple Leafs side of this tree to an end.

Islanders’ Side

To recap, the Islanders got Haggerty, Jonsson, and Hendrickson with a 1997 first-round pick. We’ll do the pick last. Haggerty was never traded, so we’ll start there. He played in 10 games with the Islanders, scoring his only career goal and an assist across parts of two seasons. It’s not the most glamorous NHL career, but it’s a better hockey career than most people have.

Hendrickson is another guy who bounced around the league, but he played just 16 games with the Islanders, scoring a goal and four assists. He was traded back to the Maple Leafs for a fifth-round pick in 1998, which became Jiri Dopita. If you’re an Edmonton Oilers or Philadelphia Flyers fan reading this and going “wait, Dopita was drafted by the Islanders?”, you’re right to be confused. He never played for them and wasn’t traded by them.

Finally, we get to Jonsson. If McCabe was the pillar the Maple Leafs got from this tree, Jonsson was that and more for the Islanders. They didn’t trade him, but he spent nine seasons on Long Island, playing 597 games and scoring 57 goals and 175 points for 232 points. He was captain of the Islanders from 1999 to 2001, and he was an alternate captain longer than that. He returned to Sweden during the 2004-05 Lockout and didn’t return to North America after that, playing out his career with Bogle.

The Draft Pick

The Maple Leafs have a bad habit of making trades that backfire spectacularly, especially when giving up draft picks. It’s one of their most fascinating features. The 1997 first-round pick was fourth overall. The Islanders used it to draft Roberto Luongo. Yes, Bobby Lou was the pick the Maple Leafs gave up to bring Clark back to Toronto.

Now, this could have haunted the Maple Leafs, but Luongo only played a single season with the Islanders. In 24 games, Luongo had a .904 save percentage and a 3.25 goals-against average with one shutout. In 2000, the Islanders got the first overall pick and used it on Rick DiPietro, meaning they had to make a decision and traded away Luongo. This trade could have been far worse for the Maple Leafs if the Islanders had held onto Luongo.

The Extended Branch

Luongo was packaged with Olli Jokinen and sent to the Florida Panthers for Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish. Kvasha played 336 games with the Islanders over five seasons, scoring 60 goals and 96 assists for 156 points. He’s best remembered as an Islander, but he was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes with a conditional fifth-round pick for a third-round pick. That third-round pick was also traded. It was traded to the Boston Bruins for a 2006 fourth-round pick and a 2006 fifth-round pick.

That third-round pick traded to Boston was used to select Brad Marchand. The Islanders may have been better off keeping that one. Instead, they drafted Shane Sims with the fifth-round pick. He played a singular game in the NHL and was not traded. The fourth-round pick was traded to the San Jose Sharks for a later 2006 fourth-round pick and an additional 2006 sixth-round pick. The latter fourth was used on Jase Weslosky, who never played at a level above the ECHL. The sixth-rounder was used on goaltender Stefan Ridderwall, who played his entire career in Europe.

Parrish’s Branch

Parrish played in 345 games for the Islanders during his five seasons with the team, scoring 118 goals and 96 assists for 214 points. Grumpy was a great Islander, but he was traded at the 2006 Trade Deadline. He was packaged with Brent Sopel and sent to the Los Angeles Kings for Denis Grebeshkov, Jeff Tambellini, and a conditional third-round pick that didn’t have the conditions met. Tambellini wasn’t traded, but he did spend five seasons with the Islanders, playing in 176 games, scoring 18 goals and 26 assists.

Now, Grebeshkov’s branch gets needlessly confusing. He only played 21 games with the Islanders, tallying three assists from the blue line. Grebeshkov was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Marc-Andre Bergeron and a 2008 third-round pick. That’s not so confusing. Bergeron played 69 games with the Islanders, scoring 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points. That’s great production from a blueliner. We’ll get to his trade momentarily, but let’s follow the pick.

The third-round pick was packaged with Allan Rourke and sent to the Oilers for a 2008 second-round pick. That third-round pick would then work its way into the possession of the Anaheim Ducks and be the return for Bergeron when he was traded to Anaheim. The exact same pick. Now, I’d love to tell you that the pick became a guy with a lengthy NHL career, but the 2008 third-round pick was used by the Islanders, eventually, on Kirill Petrov. He’s played his entire career in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

2008 Second-Round Pick

Well, what about the second-round pick? That was used by the Islanders on Travis Hamonic. Hamonic played in 444 games with the Islanders, adding 26 goals and 120 assists for 146 points in seven seasons on Long Island. He was a staple of the Islanders’ blue line for a long time before he was traded to the Calgary Flames for a 2018 first-round pick, a 2018 second-round pick, and a 2019 second-round pick. The 2018 second-round pick was used on Ruslan Ishakov. The Islanders still hold his rights, but he’s in the KHL. He had an assist in his only NHL game.

The 2019 second-rounder became Samuel Bolduc. He played in 52 games for the Islanders over three seasons, scoring four goals and four assists. He left the organization as a free agent, so that leaves us with just that 2018 first-round pick. In 2018, the Islanders had back-to-back picks. If you’re trying to remember the order they came in, let me help you out. With their own pick, the Islanders took Oliver Wahlstrom. Decent player, probably not what they were hoping for. However, the player they picked with the Flames’ draft choice was Noah Dobson.

The New Flashy Defenseman

Dobson took a while to get up to speed, but the Islanders benefited greatly from having him. In 388 games on Long Island, he found the back of the net 50 times and had another 180 assists for 230 points. He rewarded the faith shown in him by the Islanders organization with some unbelievable performances as the Islanders twice reached the conference finals, but were unable to get over the hump.

That takes us to last season, where Dobson was traded. He was sent to the Montreal Canadiens for two first-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft and forward Emil Heineman. Heineman scored 22 goals and nine assists in his first season with the Islanders, where he played in all 82 games. He’s something that the organization will hope to have around for a long time. The two first-round picks became Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson. Eklund made his NHL debut and got his first assist in the final game of the 2025-26 campaign.

A Reunion Reshaped a Franchise

When you examine a trade tree like this, you’re looking for championships, you’re looking for star players, and you’re looking for service in the fruit the tree bears. Neither side won a championship, but the fact that the Islanders have major parts of their future coming up that are directly linked to the Clark reunion in Toronto in the late 1990s shows how well they managed their assets here compared to Toronto.

This isn’t to say the Maple Leafs got nothing out of it. They’ve been in a different position than the Islanders. They were trying to compete in the late 90s, when the Islanders bottomed out. Now, the Islanders are on the rise again with a new wave of young talent, while Toronto once more seems to be exiting its competitive window. It just shows how a single trade can reshape a franchise.