3 Toronto Maple Leafs That Could be X Factors in the Playoffs

2. Tyson Barrie – 29 years old – D

2019-20 stats – 70 GP – 5 G – 34 A – 39 PTS – 53.27% CF%

At my number two spot on this list I have the man who a lot of people hated on this season for absolutely no reason, Tyson Barrie.

It was quite the up and down season for Barrie this year with it being his first year on the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was put in a bad situation with Mike Babcock as head coach but once Sheldon Keefe came, Barrie broke through and produced like Barrie in years prior.

When Barrie got traded to Toronto in the Nazem Kadri deal, Toronto fans were so excited mainly because they were seeing a defensemen coming to Toronto who shoots right.

It didn’t work out so well, at least not with Babcock behind the bench.

However, since Keefe has been named coach, Barrie has picked up from where he left off from his Colorado days, and if he can continue that into the playoffs that will be huge for this Toronto Maple Leafs team.

If he can shut down the haters about the poor first half of his season and continue his point production from the second half of the season it won’t just help the team out, it’ll help Barrie out too for his free agency as he is set to become a free agent in the offseason, whenever that will be.

Barrie is sort of a quiet player on this team in my opinion, yes he’s a great player and one of the big names on this team but with other names like Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander, and even Rielly people might often forget about Barrie and focus more on those other top end players and that might be a good thing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Stats from NHL.com)