Toronto Maple Leafs News

Matt Stajan attended Iona Catholic Secondary School as well as Quinte Secondary School in Belleville Ontario. As a young hockey player, Matt Stajan played for such minor organizations as The Toronto Red Wings and Mississauga Senators.

Matt Stajan was drafted 79th overall by Belleville in the 2000 OHL priority selection. After a successful season, in which he scored 33 goals and added 52 assists for 85 points with the Bulls, he was selected by the Maple Leafs in the 2nd Round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft with the 57th overall selection.

His efforts were rewarded with a brief one game stint in Toronto at the end of the junior campaign, in which he scored his first NHL goal on his first shot against the Ottawa Senators’ goalie Martin Prusek.

At the age of 20, Matt Stajan was able to make the Maple Leafs roster. In his first full NHL regular-season, he was selected to the NHL All-Star Young Stars team as a forward after Atlanta Thrasher’s Garnet Exelby had to step out of the game due to an injury. Stajan had two points (1G, 1A) in the game.

While the 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled due to the lock-out, Matt Stajan played for the St. John’s Maple Leafs, the AHL-level affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

During the 2005-2006 season, Stajan tied Marian Hossa for first place with eight shorthanded points (4G, 4A).

On September 13, 2006, he was signed by the Leafs to a two-year deal worth $1.75 million.

Stajan wears uniform #14, which was worn by Leafs’ legend Dave Keon during the club’s last Stanley Cup season, 1967. Matt Stajan has said that he would relinquish the number if the club decided to retire the number.

Matt Stajan is the Player Representative for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHLPA