Tonight during the second intermission on Sportsnet Elliotte Friedman was discussing the Penguins and the Maple Leafs. No he wasn’t talking about the (at the time) 5-1 Penguins lead over the Leafs. He was talking about potential player movement between the two teams.
He speculated that the Maple Leafs would be intrigued in acquiring a new backup goalie and that the Penguins backup goaltender Tristan Jarry could be in play. Jarry has had a strong start to the 2019-20 season backing up Matt Murray. His cap hit is incredibly low and when you combine the two it makes sense why Toronto would be interested. Pittsburgh is in a good spot with their backup position because they still have Casey DeSmith who cleared waivers during training camp.
Also mentioned during the segment was how Tyson Barrie is concerned how this season has started for him. Barrie is in a contract year and he doesn’t seemed interested in spending it spinning his wheels. His fit in Toronto has yet to gain the traction many thought it would. Perhaps while the Leafs are shopping for Jarry they could be interested in Schultz as well. If the Penguins retained 50% of Schultz’s salary it would bring his cap hit to 2.75M, exactly what Barrie is in Toronto. Both players are pending UFA’s and if I’m being honest I’d much rather be giving Barrie his next contract than Schultz. I think there’s potential for the Penguins to get creative here to potentially gain in both the short and long term. With Erik Gudbranson gone the Penguins would have the cap space to retain money on Schultz to bring Barrie in. I would definitely be exploring something along these lines if I’m the Penguins. I think it could make sense for Toronto as well. Start with Barrie for Schultz 50% retained and Jarry as the core of a deal and tinker from there.
Or the Maple Leafs could fix their real problem and fire Mike Babcock. They could promote Sheldon Keefe much like how the Penguins promoted both Dan Bylsma and Mike Sullivan from the AHL. Mike Babcock is not the kind of coach that is going to maximize what he gets out of players like Tyson Barrie. If I’m the Leafs I make a coaching change and see how the next month plays out before entertaining a Barrie trade. They’ll probably be just fine after that.
Thanks for reading!
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