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Tyson Barrie Won’t Play For the Toronto Maple Leafs Next Season

By Nick Barden |
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 15: Tyson Barrie #94 of the Toronto Maple Leafs waits for a faceoff against the Minnesota Wild during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 15, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Wild 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 15: Tyson Barrie #94 of the Toronto Maple Leafs waits for a faceoff against the Minnesota Wild during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 15, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Wild 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

As the Toronto Maple Leafs get ready for another season, one scenario that is probably not in the cards is re-signing Tyson Barrie.

The Toronto Maple Leafs probably can’t afford to sign Tyson Barrie to a contract extension.

I’m no Brandon Pridham, but I do know how to use CapFriendly (kind of).

Going through the Toronto Maple Leafs salary cap, it appears that if they re-sign Frederik Gauthier, Travis Dermott and Jason Spezza, that could end up eating up most of what is available.

Dermott making the most, and then Gauthier and Spezza taking deals under a million dollars each.

After signing those three, if you trade Andreas Johnsson and keep Alexander Kerfoot, you’re left with still only around two million dollars in cap space.

Obviously, Barrie isn’t going to take two million a year, which is why they unfortunately have to let him walk after this season.

As much as I’d like to keep him because of his offensive abilities, the Toronto Maple Leafs won’t have the money he’ll likely want.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs made other trades, that included Kapanen, Kerfoot and even Dermott, it could possibly work. But does Kyle Dubas move them just to sign a defenseman of Barrie’s caliber? Probably not.

I could be wrong, though.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defense will be okay without Barrie.

If you take Barrie out of the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup, their defense core still yells strong, and maybe even, better.

The pairings likely won’t look like this, but if they did, the Toronto Maple Leafs would be just fine.

Rielly-Muzzin

Dermott-Holl

Sandin-Liljegren

Morgan Rielly would quarterback the first power play, while Rasmus Sandin would do the same for the second unit.

The problem is that neither one of Jake Muzzin or Rielly would want to play on the right side. Whether it’s because they just don’t want to or they’re uncomfortable there, we probably won’t see it.

Which is unfortunate.

These line combinations bring out the offensive ability, mixed with the stay-at-home defenseman role that some players have.

Muzzin would do it for the first pairing, Justin Holl and Dermott could split the roles for the second pairing and the same would happen with the Sandin and Timothy Liljegren pairing.

This defense core aligns with the Toronto Maple Leafs beliefs, but also would be a solid lineup that I’d be comfortable with icing next season.

Next. 5 Toronto Maple Leafs That Could Potentially be Traded. dark

I wish the defense could look like this, but it probably won’t, ever. The most likely scenario for Barrie at this point is he plays out this season, and then leaves through free-agency.

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