The Toronto Maple Leafs announced have traded their longest tenured player in center Nazem Kadri in a four-player deal with the Colorado Avalanche. The Leafs acquired defenseman Tyson Barrie, center Alex Kerfoot and a 2020 sixth-round pick for Kadri, defenseman Calle Rosen and Toronto’s 2020 third round pick.
Colorado retains 50% of Barrie’s $5.5 million salary as part of the transaction, while Kerfoot is a restricted free agent.
Barrie, 27, had 59 points (14 goals, 45 assists) in 78 games for Colorado last season (7th among NHL blueliners) and collected eight points (1 goal, 7 assists) in 12 playoff games. Kerfoot, 24, had 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) in 78 games in his second season with the Avs after four years at Harvard University.
To get the top four defenseman that they have desperately needed for years, the Leafs had to pay the price of giving up a significant forward in either Kadri or William Nylander to make that happen. In this deal, Toronto gets not only a legitimate top pairing right-handed blueliner in Barrie, but a 24-year-old center in Kerfoot to take Kadri's place as their third line center.
Kadri's career as a Leaf was essentially over when he knocked Jake DeBrusk into the boards in Game 2 vs. Boston, getting suspended from the post-season for the second season in a row. Toronto emerges from July 1 with a top four D of Morgan Rielly, Barrie, Jake Muzzin and Cody Ceci and because of the salary retention on Barrie and Kerfoot being an RFA, they have another $2.5 Million in cap space to match a potential offer sheet on Mitch Marner.
*******
UPDATE - Leafs have made a pair of signings that appear to be for the Marlies in winger Kenny Agostino & Kevin Gravel. Agostino split time between the Devils, Habs & AHL Laval last season & signed a two-year, $1.4 Million deal, while Gravel played 36 games for the Oilers & signed a one-year, $700k deal.
UPDATE - 10:15 - Former Leafs assistant DJ Smith apparently is taking as much of last year's team as possible. Following the deal sending Brown and Zaitsev to Ottawa, McKenzie is reporting that the Sens will sign veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey and forward Tyler Ennis. Unconfirmed report indicated that Hainsey was signing a one-year deal for $3.5 Million.
UPDATE - TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that the Leafs will be signing center Jason Spezza to a one-year deal. Spezza, 36, scored 27 points (8 goals, 19 assists) for Dallas last season. The Toronto native may be looking for one last chance at winning a Stanley Cup and is expected to slot in as the club's fourth line center and as a faceoff specialist, which likely means that Frederik Gauthier ends up in the AHL or another team next season.
*****
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced a deal that will send defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and forward Connor Brown to the Ottawa Senators once the Leafs pay Zaitsev’s $3 Million signing bonus on Monday. The deal includes six players, sending Zaitsev, Brown and minor leaguer Michael Carcone to Ottawa for defensemen Cody Ceci and Ben Harpur, minor leaguer Aaron Luchuk and a 2020 third round pick.
Brown, who scored 20 goals as a rookie playing mostly with Auston Matthews, has been a victim of Mike Babcock’s reliance on his versatility and moving him up and down the lineup and from right wing to left wing when needed.
The 25-year-old Toronto native had 29 points (8 goals, 21 assists) last season and with the cap crunch upcoming with Mitch Marner’s new deal and organizational depth on the wing, the Leafs could not afford the luxury of a player making $2.1 Million on the fourth line.
Ceci, 25, scored 26 points (7 goals, 19 assists) in 74 games last season and is currently an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent who the Sens have been unable to get signed to a contract extension and unwilling to go to arbitration with one year left before he is eligible for unrestricted free agency.
Harpur, 24, was a fourth round pick of the Senators in 2013 and played 92 of his 103 career NHL games the last two seasons. Similar to Justin Holl with Toronto, the 6’6” 226 lb. blueliner was without options and could not be sent to AHL Belleville without going through waivers and is considered a depth defenseman.
Luchuk, 22, was an undrafted free agent signed by Ottawa after five seasons with the Windsor Spitfires and Barrie Colts and split time between the ECHL and AHL last season, scoring nine points (4 goals, 5 assists) in 27 games with Belleville.
Although the Leafs give up a second NHLer in Brown, the deal clears $6.6 Million in cap space this season (not including Ceci’s salary for 2019) and the four remaining years of Zaitsev’s seven-year deal.
Will update later in the day….watch our Free Agent Buzzcast coverage starting at 10:30
*******
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»