He played with with the junior Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, scoring 135 points in the 1973-74 season. That earned him a first round selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. Valiquette started his National Hockey League career with the Leafs in 1974. Despite his scoring prowess, his skating was terrible. After 4 years of aub-par performance, he was traded to the Colorado Rockies in 1978. He played in 350 NHL games, scoring 84 goals and 134 assists.