The Toronto Maple Leafs made another depth move and swapped forwards with the San Jose Sharks. Alexander Barabanov was a 2020 offseason signee with Toronto, and the 26-year-old winger moves on to San Jose while Toronto deepens their centre position by adding 27-year-old AHLer Antti Suomela. Both are UFAs at the end of the season, so there isn't much of a long-term impact expected here.
The Sharks must have liked what Barabanov has shown in limited viewings this year. He could have a short-term impact as a bottom-six forward, but he's under one shot per game, and under 0.5 hits and 0.5 blocks per game in limited minutes across 13 games with the Maple Leafs. In super deep leagues where you're really struggling to add man-games, then he should have some added value. Perhaps he fits in well and turns this opportunity into a contract extension for next year, as the Sharks should have room in the lineup for him.
Suomela slots in as the Leafs' 14th forward (at best) and will only be called upon if a few centres go down with injury. It's also possible that he sees a game or two at the end of the season if the Leafs start resting a few players. He has won 55% of his faceoffs over his last two-dozen NHL games, so he can at least pitch in as a depth specialist in that area.
One point of note is that the Leafs have traded both of their big European Free Agents that were signed last summer in Mikko Lehtonen and Barabanov, so it's possible that hurts their pursuits for future UFAs from across the pond.
Players this helps:
Players this hurts:
Jeffery Viel (or whoever else comes out of the lineup in San Jose)
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