Toronto Maple Leafs would be crazy to trade Tyson Barrie

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going through a rough patch and it appears that Tyson Barrie is one player being singled out for his play.

Tyson Barrie joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in the trade that also saw the Canadian club acquire Alexander Kerfoot in exchange for Nazem Kadri and Calle Rosen.

His capture was hailed as a great piece of business by general manager Kyle Dubas, who was addressing the team’s dire need for a right-handed defenceman that can contribute at both ends of the ice.

Barrie was coming off a 14-goal, 59-point season with the Colorado Avalanche and expectations were that he would be able to put up big numbers and play a significant role on the powerplay.

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With 22 games in the blue and white now under his belt, Barrie has struggled to replicate the same form he showed in the Mile High City.

Barrie has just six assists to his name so far, with just one of those coming on the powerplay, and there have been rumblings that the Leafs could explore the possibility of a trade should his performances fail to improve.

There has been much talk about the Leafs’ struggles this season, with a number of injuries to key players, such as captain John Tavares and Mitch Marner, while the stubbornness of head coach Mike Babcock appears to be rearing its ugly head once again.

But the Toronto Maple Leafs would be crazy to part ways with Barrie already.

For starters, finding a cost-effective right-handed defenceman in today’s NHL is one of the hardest tasks any general manager could have.

The Avalanche retained 50% of Barrie’s cap hit in the trade that sent him to the Great White North, seeing the Victoria, British Columbia native take up just $2.75 million.

While seeing around 55% of his starts coming in the offensive zone, this is a significant drop over the past two seasons, where the 28-year-old started in the opposition zone 62.4% and 64.1%.

Seeing his placement further up the ice more often saw Barrie eclipse 55 points in both campaigns and could be one of the steps that could be taken to helping him get his scoring touch back.

Considering how consistently good Barrie has been during his career, it is hard to imagine that he won’t once again get his confidence back and start to produce at the level expected of him.

With his current production far below expectations, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (via Chris Johnston) believes that other NHL teams have inquired about Barrie due to his current relatively low value.

Trading Barrie away for very little, and then seeing him go on to flourish and be the player they knew they were acquiring, would cost the Leafs too much in the long-run.

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to figure out how to turn things around and get their season back on track, but trading Barrie away certainly isn’t one of the ways they will do that.

If they are determined to trade a player away, Cody Ceci might be a more deserving candidate.

What do you think Leafs fans? Will Barrie figure things out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!