The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Tuesday afternoon that they have traded long-tenured Leafs forward, Nazem Kadri. Also added in the deal, defenseman Calle Rosen and a 2020 3rd round pick, which were sent to Colorado in exchange for defenseman Tyson Barrie, forward Alexander Kerfoot and a 2020 6th round pick. Colorado had also retained 50% of Barrie’s salary. With this transaction, the Leafs not only replaced Kadri, but also acquired (finally) a top 4 right handed defenseman they’ve long dreamed about. When breaking down the specifics and diving in the details, its clear that this trade was won by the Leafs, and I will explain why.

Tyson Barrie:

Barrie has a year left on his contract, making around 2.7M (50% retained salary).Barrie posted 14 goals and 59 points in 78 games. He is an example of an elite “offensive defenseman”, much like Morgan Reilly, with still potential to get better. Barrie also had a high offensive zone corsi for which translates into his very high Exit%. He’s a very good skater, which allows him to have high possession-numbers. Barrie will most likely play next to Jake Muzzin on opening night, and will probably transition to Rielly’s pairing once Travis Dermott is back from injury.

Alexander Kerfoot:

Kerfoot is a very good return in this trade. He has recently transitioned into a limited centre role which benefits the Leafs greatly as they lost a key centre in this trade. He had a very impressive 56% faceoff ratio in 700 draws taken. The most comparable player to Kerfoot would be William Nylander, who’s primarily a winger and transitioned into centre mid season. Kerfoot recorded 15 goals and 47 points in 78 games last season. He had 3 more points in 5 more games than Kadri. Kerfoot is also 4 years younger than Kadri. He’s currently a restricted free-agent. EvolvingWild’s contract projector has him projected to make $2.8M for the next 2 years in a contract extension. Kerfoot is a very good replacement for Kadri and probably will be cheaper.

The Leafs now have a very solid defense lineup and can be realistically known as serious Stanley Cup contenders.

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Sources: CapFriendly.com, hockeydb.com, A3ZPlayerCompTool by CJ Turtoro, Contract Projector by EvolvingWild