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A Flame from the Past: Josh Leivo

Photo credit: Terrence Lee/USA Today Sports

By Ryley Delaney

Aug 28, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 28, 2026, 01:45 EDT

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Do you remember Josh Leivo?

Every once in a while, we take a look at a player who once played for the Calgary Flames in a series called “A Flame From the Past.” This player has to have played a significant number of games for the Flames. I’ll put every Flames’ season into a Wheel of Names, and this time, it landed on the 2020-21 season. In this article, we’ll take a look at Josh Leivo?

Born in Innisfil, Ontario, but raised in Richmond Hill, Leivo began his junior career with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves. In his first season, the winger scored 13 goals and 30 points in 64 games, with six goals and 13 points in eight post-season games.

His performance led the Toronto Maple Leafs to select the hometown product 86th overall in 2011. However, his National Hockey League debut was still a ways away, returning to the Wolves in 2011-12 where he scored 32 goals and 73 points in 66 games.

Leivo began the 2012-13 season with the Wolves as well, scoring 19 goals and 44 points, but was traded to the Kitchener Rangers before the OHL’s trade deadline. He finished his season scoring another 10 goals and 29 points in 29 games with the Rangers, giving him a total of 29 goals and 73 points in 66 games. Leivo played 10 more OHL playoff games, scoring three goals and 12 points.

The winger turned professional in 2013-14, having already played eight American Hockey League games. Leivo scored 23 goals and 42 points in 59 games with the Toronto Marlies, then another three goals and eight points in 12 playoff games. That same season, Leivo made his NHL debut, scoring a goal and an assist in seven games.

In 2014-15, he played nine NHL games, mainly spending the season in the AHL. Over 51 games, he scored 11 goals and 32 points, with a goal and six assists in five post-season games. Leivo also played 51 regular season AHL games in 2015-16, scoring 17 goals and 48 points, with four goals and 12 points in 15 playoff games.

However, Leivo reached the double-digit game mark in the NHL in 2015-16 as well, scoring five goals in 12 games. For the first time in his career, Leivo played more NHL games than AHL games in 2016-17, scoring two goals and 10 points in 13 NHL games. But in total, the Richmond Hill product played just 18 games, two more than he played in 2017-18.

Leivo’s final season with the Leafs came in 2018-19, potting four goals and six points in 27 games. In December 2018, Leivo was traded to the Vancouver Canucks, finishing the season with 10 goals and 18 points in 49 games out west. His 14 goals and 24 points in 76 games are a career-high, and it’s the lone time he was an NHL regular while remaining healthy.

The winger spent the 2019-20 season with the Canucks, scoring seven goals and 19 points in 36 games. Leivo signed with the Flames before the COVID-impact 2020-21 season, the fever dream year, amassing six goals and nine points in 38 games.

Signing with the Hurricanes for the 2021-22 season, Leivo spent most of his season in the AHL, potting 22 goals and 46 points in 54 games. However, he exploded for 15 goals and 29 points in 18 games, helping the Chicago Wolves win the Calder Cup. Over his seven NHL games that season, Leivo scored a goal and three points.

His final NHL season was in 2022-23, scoring four goals and 16 points in 51 games with the St. Louis Blues. He played two AHL games that year as well, scoring three goals and four points with the Springfield Thunderbirds, the same team he helped the Wolves defeat in the 2022 Calder Cup Finals.

Leivo’s career in North America came to an end after the 2022-23 season, but he’s continued to play in Russia. Playing for Ufa Salvat Yulayev in 2023-24, Leivo scored 15 goals and 38 points in 38 games, with four goals and nine points in six playoff games.

In 2024-25, Leivo set the record for most goals in a Kontinental Hockey League season, finishing the year with 49 of them with 31 assists in 62 games. Funnily enough, he scored just two goals in 14 playoff games, instead settling for 13 assists.

Leivo most recently played for Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL, scoring 26 goals and 65 points in 62 games, with three goals and four points in five playoff games. The 33-year-old signed with KHL’s Avangard Omsk this past off-season.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for DFO Calgary, DFO Edmonton, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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