On February 23, 2000, MacLean was traded by the Kings to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Craig Charron. MacLean spent the majority of his contract with the Leafs in the minors with the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League. After finishing the 2001–02 as the AHL leading scorer, MacLean made his NHL play-off debut with the Leafs, playing in 3 games. On July 17, 2002, MacLean signed as a free agent with the Columbus Blue Jackets and appeared in four regular season games.