Maple Leafs & Sharks Agree to a Trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks have completed a minor trade that sends Leafs' forward Alexander Barabanov to the Sharks in exchange for Antti Suomela.

#Leafs trade Barabanov to SJ for Antti Suomela
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 12, 2021

Barabanov is in his first season in North America and while he plays a rugged style where he doesn't shy away from the dirty areas of the ice, he's struggled to find his footing with the Leafs bottom-six forwards so far this season. In 13 games the 26-year-old has recorded one assist. He's under contract for only the rest of this season so this will be an audition in San Jose to try and land a long-term deal.

As for Suomela, he's a 27-year-old center who has played in four games so far for the Sharks and has yet to register any points. In 51 career games he's recorded 15 points, so it's obvious this was about moving out a contract and giving someone else an opportunity.

The Leafs did recall Nick Robertson and he was practicing with the big club on Monday so expect to see him in the lineup as early as Monday night.

Leafs Nation must be thrilled with the deadline deals from Kyle Dubas!