Leafs go Barrie picking
With NHL news today that will likely improve Tyson Barrie's fortune going forward in that "other" league, the CPHL Leafs looked to improve it's offence from the blueline by acquiring the enigmatic defender from the New York Islanders in a multi-player deal that took on several incarnations before completion.
In the deal, the Leafs acquire the services of Barrie, along with Sven Baertschi, Richard Panik, Nikita Gusev and the Islanders' 2021 third round pick in exchange for Josh Bailey, Jack Johnson, Wayne Simmonds, Vinnie Hinostroza and Tobias Rieder.
Salary cap considerations were equaled out between the two teams for the season.
The Leafs feel Barrie is by far the best player in the deal who will add a new dimension to the offence, and have been looking to unload slowly declining assets such as Bailey, Johnson and Simmonds for quite some time. Panik and Baertschi are capable of filling top 9 roles for the season, while Gusev holds intrigue as a potential top 6 winger.
"Jesus Christ," said Leafs general manager Chris Quigley in a released statement. "That took way too long. How did we start arguing over friggin' Vinnie Hinostroza or Alex Copp? What? ANDREW Copp? Are you sure? Huh. But yeah, a last-minute sticking point that made the negotiations go on another four hours was Vinnie Hinostroza or Andrew Copp. God damn, I missed my grandmother's 93rd birthday party because of that."
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