Junior The
Cornwall Royals of the
major junior Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) drafted Gilmour from Belleville, and he joined the team for the
1980–81 season. and Gilmour was not expected to play a significant role with the team. The Royals started him off as an offensive defenceman, but moved him to forward permanently. In the QMJHL, Gilmour's season was interrupted by a broken collarbone. The Royals won the
QMJHL championship and earned a berth in the
1981 Memorial Cup. Gilmour recorded seven points in five games at the tournament. Though eligible for the
1981 NHL entry draft, Gilmour went unselected and returned to Cornwall, who had shifted to the OHL for the
1981–82 season. NHL teams continued to dismiss Gilmour due to his size, but the St. Louis Blues gambled on him in the
1982 NHL entry draft by selecting him with their seventh round pick, 134th overall. Gilmour won the
Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the leading scorer, Gilmour had a 55-game point streak that lasted from October 19, 1982, until February 27, 1983, and which remains an OHL record. He began the
1983–84 season in St. Louis and made his NHL debut on October 4, 1983, against the
Pittsburgh Penguins. Gilmour scored his first goal on November 1, in his 12th game, against
Eddie Mio of the
Detroit Red Wings. Gilmour's offensive performances were consistent in his following two seasons. He recorded 57 points in
1984–85 and 53 points in
1985–86. His offensive breakout continuing into the
1986–87 season, Gilmour led the Blues and finished fifth overall in NHL scoring with 105 points; his 42 goals was the highest single-season total of his career. The Blues were also accused of pretending to negotiate a payment while attempting to trade Gilmour without informing the other team of the allegations. One week later, on September 6, the Blues traded Gilmour to the Flames in a multi-player deal. Gilmour,
Mark Hunter,
Steve Bozek and Michael Dark were sent to Calgary in exchange for
Mike Bullard,
Craig Coxe, and Tim Corkery. Bozek, however, was traded to the
Vancouver Canucks that same day. Gilmour expressed disappointment at leaving the Blues, but stated that "from what has happened the past week, on our part and on the St. Louis Blues' part, it was our best solution."
Calgary Flames Gilmour's legal situation progressed throughout the early part of the
1988–89 NHL season as he began his career with the Flames: He and his wife countersued his accusers for slander and libel in October, and a
grand jury was convened to investigate whether criminal charges were warranted. Gilmour denied the allegations and by the end of the year, the grand jury chose not to indict Gilmour. The lawsuit was dropped shortly after, and Gilmour stated that he was moving on from the ordeal. On the ice, Gilmour tied with
Håkan Loob for second in team scoring with 85 points, behind
Joe Mullen's 110 as the Flames won the
Presidents' Trophy as the top regular season team in the NHL. Gilmour played a pivotal role in the Flames' run to the
1989 Stanley Cup Final; he was particularly effective in Calgary's second round series against the
Los Angeles Kings where he scored or assisted on key goals in three of the four games while playing an effective role in preventing the Kings' star
Wayne Gretzky from establishing his own offensive game. Gilmour recorded 11 goals and 11 assists in 22 games during the Flames' playoff run. Early in the
1989–90 season, Gilmour was again part of goal-scoring history. He scored a
shorthanded goal with 15 seconds remaining in regulation time, followed four seconds later by teammate
Paul Ranheim. The two goals salvaged an 8–8 tie in the October 17, 1989, contest against the
Quebec Nordiques. It tied an NHL record for fastest two goals by one team (since broken), and remains the record for fastest two shorthanded goals. The Flames named Gilmour one of the team's
captains for the
1990–91 season, a year in which he surpassed 600 games and 600 points for his career. An off-season salary dispute with Flames' general manager
Doug Risebrough carried into the
1991–92 season. Gilmour, who was playing the option year of his contract at a salary of
US$450,000 was unable to reach a deal with the team on an extension. The dispute went to arbitration where the Flames offered a raise to $550,000 while he asked for $1.2 million and was expecting a settlement worth around $800,000. The arbitrator's decision, made in December 1991, amounted to $750,000 per season for two years, but left Gilmour angry and bitter. He alleged that executives with the team and league had tampered with the process – the arbitrator attended a Flames game with team management on the night before the hearing, while NHL President
John Ziegler sent a letter to the arbitrators. Gilmour, who remained active with the Flames throughout the process, had scored 38 points in 38 games. Following the decision, he requested a trade out of Calgary and threatened legal action. Gilmour led the Flames to a 3–2 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens with a goal and an assist on New Year's Eve then walked out on the club on January 1, 1992. He later called the choice to walk away from the team to be one of the toughest decisions he had ever made. The following day, Calgary dealt Gilmour to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of a ten player swap, the largest trade in NHL history. Calgary sent Gilmour,
Jamie Macoun,
Ric Nattress,
Kent Manderville and
Rick Wamsley to Toronto in exchange for
Gary Leeman,
Craig Berube,
Michel Petit,
Alexander Godynyuk and
Jeff Reese. The deal altered the trajectory of both franchises as Gilmour immediately revitalized the Maple Leafs while the Flames franchise entered a long decline after the deal that was immediately judged to have ended in Toronto's favour.
Toronto Maple Leafs Within a month of the trade, Gilmour and the Maple Leafs agreed to a new contract that was reported to be worth $4 million over four years. however recorded 20 of those victories in the second half of the season following the trade. Gilmour scored 49 points for Toronto, and finished the year with 87 points combined between the Flames and Maple Leafs. but was also subject to a controversial suspension during the year. The league suspended Gilmour for eight practice days – but no games – after he broke
Tomas Sandström's forearm with a
slash. and posted their first winning season since
1978–79. In the
1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Gilmour broke the team scoring record by scoring 35 points as Toronto reached the Campbell Conference Final. The sixth game of the series, against the Los Angeles Kings, ended in controversy. Toronto led the series three games to two and one additional victory would have put the Maple Leafs into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1967. In the first minute of overtime with the score tied 4–4, Gilmour was cut on his chin for eight stitches after he was struck by Wayne Gretzky's stick. League rules of the time mandated that player who caused an injury via a
high-sticking infraction be assessed a five-minute penalty, however referee
Kerry Fraser made no call on the play, even after conferring with his linesmen. Instead, Gretzky remained on the ice and scored the game-winning goal seconds later. Gretzky then led Los Angeles to a game seven victory that eliminated Toronto from the playoffs. Gilmour recorded his third career
100-point season in 1993–94 as he finished fourth in NHL scoring with 111 points. He finished fourth in post-season scoring with 28 points as the Maple Leafs again reached the Western Conference Final before losing to the
Vancouver Canucks. Gilmour finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting and second in Selke trophy voting. The Maple Leafs named Gilmour the 15th captain in franchise history on August 18, 1994, as he succeeded
Wendel Clark, who was traded to the
Quebec Nordiques in the off-season. The
1994–95 season was delayed by a
labour dispute. The stoppage prompted several players to sign temporarily with European teams. Gilmour signed in Switzerland and joined the
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in November 1994. He appeared in nine games with the
National League A team and scored two goals to go along with 13 assists before returning to Canada. Gilmour returned to the Maple Leafs when the NHL's dispute was resolved; in 44 games with Toronto, he had 10 goals and 23 assists. Ultimately, one day after the contract leaked online, on October 6, 2001, Gilmor signed a one-year, $1.8 million (not including incentives) contract with the
Montreal Canadiens, with a club option for a second year at $2 million. Montreal was looking to bolster centre-depth, being considered weak at the position following the cancer diagnosis of
Saku Koivu. The Canadiens would trade Gilmour to the playoff bound Maple Leafs for a sixth-round draft pick at the 2003
NHL trade deadline. Gilmour's first game with the Leafs turned out to be his last as he and the Calgary Flames
Dave Lowry collided inadvertently during Gilmour's second shift, with Gilmour tearing his ACL and missing the remainder of the season. At 40 years old, Gilmour officially announced his retirement on September 8, 2003, still facing possibly months of rehabilitation for his spring ACL tear and after new Maple Leafs general manager
John Ferguson Jr. made a public announcement that the Maple Leafs would not re-sign the veteran centre. Gilmour became the seventeenth player to be honoured in such a way by the Maple Leafs. He was inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011. On October 15, 2016, Gilmour's number 93 was retired by the Maple Leafs, along with all other honoured numbers also being retired. ==Coaching career==