Leafs want 1st-round pick, prospect for Tyson Barrie: report

One of the spiciest rumours heading into NHL trade deadline day involved Tyson Barrie, the talented offensive Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman.

The Vancouver Canucks are reportedly interested.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie weighed in today as to what it might cost to get Barrie, who hasn’t been a good fit in Toronto.

“[The Leafs] want a first-round pick, they want a prospect,” McKenzie said on TSN’s extensive trade deadline coverage. “They want to try to do a deal like St Louis did with Kevin Shattenkirk to the Washington Capitals three years ago. Or they want to do a deal like Andrej Sekera to the LA Kings from Carolina five years ago.”

.@TSNBobMcKenzie provides some insight on what the Leafs might do with Tyson Barrie.#TradeCentre pic.twitter.com/mzoHZPDEkV

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 24, 2020

The Canucks, according to reports from TSN 1040’s Rick Dhaliwal and Sportsnet 650’s Satiar Shah, are still in the mix to land Barrie. This, despite the fact that Vancouver doesn’t currently have the ability to trade their first-round pick this year or next due to the JT Miller trade.

Source : #Canucks haven't officially pulled out of Barrie talks yet.

Still trying.#TSN1040 Deadline Day.

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) February 24, 2020

Don’t think the Canucks wanted to spend the cap space they had left all on Simmonds. Not out on Barrie yet but could still add a D man

— Satiar Shah (@SatiarShah) February 24, 2020

Acquired in a deal that sent Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche last summer, Barrie’s numbers are down with the Leafs this season, scoring just 35 points in 63 games.

The British Columbia native is in the last year of a contract paying him $5.5 million, but half of the money left on his contract ($2.75 million) was retained by Colorado.

The Canucks were heavily rumoured to be in pursuit of Barrie at the draft last June, before the Avalanche dealt him to the Leafs. Since then, Quinn Hughes has developed into one of the best offensive defencemen in the National Hockey League, so on the surface it seems like an odd fit. Barrie is a talented offensive defenceman who scored 59 points in 2018-19, but isn’t strong defensively.

As for the Leafs, despite a disappointing season, they’re built to win now, and losing Barrie for future assets doesn’t help the team in the short term.

The other player Vancouver was heavily rumoured to be pursuing, Wayne Simmonds, was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for a conditional fifth-round pick earlier in the day. Teams have until 3 pm ET / noon PT today to complete trades.

*Update: The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta is reporting that the Canucks are now out of the Barrie sweepstakes:

Unless something changes, as of now it doesn’t sound like Vancouver’s still in the Tyson Barrie mix.

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) February 24, 2020