It doesn't happen so often with the Toronto Maple Leafs, or in instances across the league for that matter, but from time to time, NHL players will make a return to a certain club after a previous stint with that same team earlier in their career.

Recently, there were rumblings and speculation about a potential reunion between the Leafs and left winger James van Riemsdyk. On the social media platform X, the Maple Leafs posted an old highlight of van Riemsdyk from his days in Toronto, and some took it as a nod to potentially acquiring the 37-year-old UFA.

However, that speculation has seemingly led nowhere. Nonetheless, on the theme of a former Leaf hypothetically returning, here's a list of players who returned to the organization after departing earlier in their careers.

Doug Gilmour's greatest years were with the Maple Leafs, particularly his first two full seasons with the franchise in 1992-93 and 1993-94. He scored career-high 127 points and 111 points in those two campaigns, and helped push Toronto to a conference final appearance in the 1993 post-season.

He returned to Toronto very late in his career. In March 2003, the Maple Leafs acquired Gilmour in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, Gilmour's return was short-lived after he suffered an injury in his first game back. He wouldn't see the ice for the rest of the season and announced his retirement before the 2003-04 campaign began.

The Maple Leafs and Wendel Clark kept finding each other throughout his 15-year NHL career.

Clark made two returns to Toronto for a total of three stints with the club. It started when the Leafs drafted him first overall in the 1985 draft. From there, he played nine straight seasons in Toronto.

Clark went on to play for the Quebec Nordiques and New York Islanders before returning to the Maple Leafs again in 1995-96. He spent parts of three seasons there before he was moved again, this time spending time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks.

Then, to end the final campaign of his NHL career, he was sent to Toronto during the 1999-00 season and hung up his skates that following summer.

Tie Domi had two stints with the Maple Leafs, but feels like he only had one.

That's because after Toronto drafted him 27th overall in 1988, he only featured in two games for the Leafs in 1989-90. He then went on to play for the New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets for three years each.

During the 1994-95 season, Domi returned to Toronto, but this time to stay. He rounded out his NHL career with parts of 11 straight years with the Maple Leafs and retired after the 2005-05 campaign.

So while it's technically a return, Domi's second stint with Toronto is really what he's known for.

Curtis Joseph was another player who returned to Toronto and retired with the organization. 

His first stint with the Maple Leafs began in the middle of his NHL career. In year No. 10 of Joseph's 19-year career. It was 1998-99 when he joined the Leafs, remaining with the team through 2001-02.

Then, after five seasons away from Toronto, the goaltender came back in 2008-09 in his early 40s, playing a total of 270 games for the Leafs across five years. He retired after that 2008-09 season.

In that final year, Joseph recorded a .869 save percentage in 21 games for Toronto.

Ilya Lyubushkin is the first player on this list who is still active in the NHL today.

He only played 50 regular-season contests with the Maple Leafs in his two stints. His first year in Toronto came in the middle of the 2021-22 season when he was acquired from the Arizona Coyotes, among other assets.

In 2023-24, it happened again. Toronto traded for Lybushkin from the Carolina Hurricanes as a mid-season acquisition. 

The 32-year-old defenseman is currently a member of the Nashville Predators, gearing up for his ninth campaign in the NHL.

Luke Schenn is the other player on this list who remains active in the NHL.

Like Clark and Domi, Schenn was a draft pick of the Maple Leafs, fifth overall in 2008. Out of the draft, he played four straight seasons for Toronto, from 2008-09 to 2011-12.

It was a long time before Schenn would rejoin the Maple Leafs, and he would have to wait 11 years to wear Toronto's Blue and White again.

In total, Schenn featured in five campaigns for the Leafs and appeared in 325 regular-season contests. He was never a defenseman to put up points, but he was a physical presence in Toronto and was solid in the 2023 playoffs.

Michael Hutchinson didn't play much in the NHL, as he was more of an AHL goaltender. Nonetheless, he also had two stints with the Maple Leafs.

Hutchinson featured for the Maple Leafs in 2018-19 and 2019-20 for a total of 20 appearances. During the 2019-20 season, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. Following his brief stint with the Avalanche, he found himself back with Toronto when he signed there as a free agent.

He then played a total of 10 games between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns and rarely had an impact for the Leafs.

Dominic Moore played for a whopping 10 different clubs in his 13-year NHL career. As a result, the Maple Leafs weren't the only team that he had multiple stints with, and Moore featured for seven of eight Atlantic Division teams.

Moore had his best season with Toronto in 2008-09, which was the second year of his first tenure with the team. He scored 45 points that year, 41 of which were for Toronto in 63 games before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres and playing 18 games there.

Then, after many stops around the league, he landed in Toronto again for one year in 2017-18, which turned out to be his last year in the NHL. He scored six goals and 12 points in 50 games that year.

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