The trade



Toronto Maple Leafs receive defenseman Tyson Barrie (Avs retaining half his salary), forward Alex Kerfoot, 2020 sixth-round pick



Colorado Avalanche receive center Nazem Kadri, defenseman Calle Rosen, 2020 third-round pick.



Maple Leafs: A-plus



This is what trades are supposed to look like – teams dealing from surplus, finding a trade partner that makes sense and having the guts to pull the trigger. This isn’t just a bonafide blockbuster, it’s one in which everybody can walk away feeling really good about it.



Toronto GM Kyle Dubas spent a lot of his offseason time deftly stick-handling through a salary cap squeeze, and the payoff is the ability to finally address the defense. Barrie replaces Jake Gardiner on Toronto’s defense, is the coveted right-handed shot defenseman and comes with only a $2.75 million cap hit. Compare this (and yes, this is a bit unfair but gets at the positional scarcity) to the $5.5...