The deal:
Toronto gets: Defenseman Tyson Barrie (50% salary retained), the signing rights to restricted free-agent forward Alexander Kerfoot and Colorado's 2020 sixth-round pick
Colorado gets: Forward Nazem Kadri, defenseman Calle Rosen and Toronto's 2020 third-round pick
Toronto Maple Leafs: A-
The Maple Leafs addressed two major needs with this trade. First, they freed up much-needed cap space for their attempt to re-sign restricted free agent Mitch Marner. Getting the Avalanche to retain 50 percent of Barrie's contract while simultaneously shedding the $4.5 million Kadri was making gives them more flexibility underneath the cap after their maneuvering earlier in the day that shipped out Connor Brown and the onerous Nikita Zaitsev contract to the Ottawa Senators.
Second, the Leafs get a legitimate top-four, right-shot defenseman in Barrie. He is coming off of a career-best 59-point season and has just one year left on his contract. He fits plans to contend next season but would also be off the cap in 2020-21, when the Maple Leafs may be able to count on prospects like Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren on the blue line, softening the blow of potentially losing him for nothing down the road.
It's an easy bet to make, even if you get only a year out of Barrie. The Leafs needed to address a defense that had lost three regulars, including Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey and -- likely -- Jake Gardiner. Coming from an Avalanche team that was long on young offensive talent, Barrie should be a natural fit.
The Maple Leafs also added a solid depth middle-six forward to the mix in Kerfoot, who is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. He can play center or wing based on Toronto's more immediate needs. Will he adequately replace Kadri? Probably not, but the more important thing is that the Leafs get to table his salary situation until later in the summer when they would hope to have a better handle on their cap based on what Marner is doing. It's similar to what the Leafs are able to do with Cody Ceci, acquired in the aforementioned swap with the Senators.
Losing Kadri hurts, but the Leafs were always going to have cap casualties, especially after Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen got their new contracts. And now all eyes turn to Marner, as the Maple Leafs have the cap flexibility to make some headway in those negotiations.
Colorado Avalanche: B+
The arrival of Cale Makar and potentially Bowen Byram might have made Barrie more immediately expendable on their blue line, but the Avalanche are weaker at the position in the short term. Long term? It should be a position of strength as Makar and Byram develop into the stars.
The Avalanche get a desperately needed upgrade in the No. 2 center position. It would have been difficult to bank on another career year from Carl Soderberg, whom the team had already shipped out to the Arizona Coyotes earlier this offseason. A two-time 30-goal scorer, Kadri gives Colorado more offensive pop behind Nathan MacKinnon. Kadri also makes this team a little tougher.
But most importantly, Kadri will be 29 years old when next season opens and comes at an especially reasonable $4.5 million cap hit over the next three seasons. So the Avalanche get a little younger and have some cost certainty, even though they are holding on to $2.75 million of what is owed to Barrie. They would have run the risk of losing Barrie for nothing had they held on to him through the season.
Rosen is a decent option as a depth defenseman for the Avalanche, who just lost Patrik Nemeth to free agency. The opportunities were not readily available for Rosen in Toronto despite quite a bit of success in the AHL in his only two seasons in North America. The 25-year-old had 46 points in 54 games for the Toronto Marlies last season and needed to go somewhere where he could compete for an NHL roster spot. Rosen has two years left on his current contract at just $750,000 per season.
The Avalanche still have plenty of cap space to do the most important business of their offseason: signing restricted free agent Mikko Rantanen, who should come in with a pretty large annual value. Meanwhile, the team also has to get deals done with recently acquired Andre Burakovsky, defenseman Nikita Zadorov and center J.T. Compher, all of whom are arbitration-eligible.
Losing Barrie after back-to-back career years is a hard pill to swallow, but with him not fitting into the team's long-term plans, the Avalanche were able to address a key need while maintaining flexibility. It's another tidy bit of business for Joe Sakic.