There’s no world in which the Sens are willing to retain 50% on Zaitsev so they can acquire another righty d man who can’t play in ur top four. This seems like a pretty blatant attempt to swap an offensive d man for a cheaper option who you at LEAST think can play third pair minutes. Sens say no.

I would do this one for one with no retention because Barrie is a slight upgrade over Zaitsev but this makes zero sense.

Tyson Barrie gets a lot of hate from fans, usually those who choose not to look a bit deeper than opinions based on his one season in Toronto. Its far too easy to forget that he led all NHL defensemen in scoring just two season ago, and has quarterbacked one of the best power play units in the league. Over their respective careers the role Barrie has played and the stats he's produced are comparable to John Klingberg, who just signed a $7M contract in Anaheim. Yet many people scoff at Barrie's $4.5M AAV. Strange.

Barrie ended last season playing 3rd pairing in Edmonton because Ceci proved effective with Nurse as the shut-down pairing, and Bouchard developed much faster than anticipated. The only reasons his name is mentioned in the rumor mill are the emergence of Evan Bouchard and the cap constraints the Oilers find themselves in. Its possible, but improbable, that those circumstances might motivate Ken Holland to undersell Barrie. The value for the Oilers in the proposed trade arises from the salary retention, and Zaitsev being right handed and having some experience. Without the salary retention the deal makes little sense for Edmonton. Even with salary retention, I don't think this is a deal that works out well for Edmonton.