Headlines

  • Minnesota Wild Acquire Ian Cole
  • Six Dallas Stars Players Test Positive For COVID-19
  • Marcus Foligno Signs Three-Year Extension
  • Jeremy Colliton Agrees To Extension With Chicago Blackhawks
  • Corey Crawford Announces Retirement
  • Islanders Agree To Terms With Mathew Barzal On Three-Year Contract
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Toronto Maple Leafs Frontrunners To Sign Alexander Barabanov

March 31, 2020 at 11:30 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 5 Comments

March 31: Maple Leafs’ GM Kyle Dubas admitted at media availability today that his team is pursuing Barabanov, explaining to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet that the team likes the Russian forward’s ability to make plays under pressure. Johnston also notes that there doesn’t seem to be any rush from Barabanov’s side to make a decision.

March 28: With the KHL playoffs now canceled, many of the league’s top free agents can now consider signing new contracts. One of the more interesting forwards, Alexander Barabanov, has expressed interest in coming to North America and signing with an NHL team with at least 20 teams showing interest in the diminutive forward to this point.

However, a recent report from Sport-Express’ overseas reporter Igor Eronko suggests that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the leading candidate to sign the 25-year-old, although he did report that there are three teams he’s considering, which also includes the Arizona Coyotes. TSN’s Darren Dreger does add that nothing is confirmed. In fact, there are no guarantees he’s definitely coming to the NHL yet. He reports that Barabanov and his agent Dan Milstein will begin interviewing teams next week.

Barabanov has played full seasons for SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL for the past five years and has scored anywhere between 10 to 20 goals in each of the last four years. He scored a career-high 17 goals and 46 points in 58 games in the 2018-19 season but saw his numbers dip this past year after suffering a broken hand in December from a slashing incident. He finished his season with 10 goals and 20 points in 43 games. Regardless, the forward is expected to fill a role as a solid bottom-six forward despite his lack of size at 5-foot-8 and 159 pounds.

If Toronto is the front-runner, it wouldn’t be a big surprise as general manager Kyle Dubas has made it a priority to add undrafted talent to his salary cap-strapped team by looking overseas. He added forward Ilya Mikheyev out of the KHL last year, who did make an impact in the first half of the season before suffering a wrist laceration when the skate of New Jersey’s Jesper Bratt ran over his wrist. Mikheyev has eight goals and 23 assists in 39 games this season. Despite the injury, he is expected to play a major role for the Maple Leafs next season. Toronto hopes they can get similar production from Barabanov if he agrees to sign with them.

Arizona is also in the mix. The Athletic’s Craig Morgan confirmed the Coyotes interest as general manager John Chayka talked with Barabanov earlier this season when he visited St. Petersburg. No word on who the third team Barabanov is considering.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Arizona Coyotes| Ilya Mikheyev| KHL| Toronto Maple Leafs

Snapshots: Palve, Nakladal, Christensen
Main
NHL Extends Isolation Period To April 15
5 comments
newest oldest

Comments

  1. DarkSide830

    10 months ago

    they think the KHL pipeline will save them from their cap woes.

    Like
    Reply
    • SuperSinker

      10 months ago

      Don’t blame them for thinking outside the box. Easier to fill a bottom 6 than a top 6

      Like
      Reply
    • DarkSide830

      10 months ago

      yeah but you need somebody to play in those spots, good or not.

      Like
      Reply
    • MoneyBallJustWorks

      10 months ago

      if you can replace a 3 million dollar winger with a 1 million one on the 3rd line, why would you not take that opportunity?

      guess hate is all you know

      Like
      Reply
  2. riverrat64

    10 months ago

    Would those names might be , Johnsson or maybe Kapanen ?????

    Like
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Minnesota Wild Acquire Ian Cole

    Six Dallas Stars Players Test Positive For COVID-19

    Marcus Foligno Signs Three-Year Extension

    Jeremy Colliton Agrees To Extension With Chicago Blackhawks

    Corey Crawford Announces Retirement

    Islanders Agree To Terms With Mathew Barzal On Three-Year Contract

    Corey Crawford To Take Indefinite Leave

    Columbus Blue Jackets Extend Oliver Bjorkstrand

    NHL Announces Full 2020-21 Schedule

    Penguins Sign John Marino To Six-Year Extension

    Recent

    2020 Year In Review: August

    Minor Transactions: 1/21/21

    Canucks Place Travis Hamonic On IR

    Penguins Looking To Acquire A Defenseman

    PHR Live Chat Transcript: 01/21/21

    COVID Protocol Related Absences: 01/21/21

    Josh Manson Out With Oblique Injury

    Snapshots: Ullmark, Tryamkin, Thornton

    Nick Robertson To Miss Four Weeks

    Several Capitals Players Expected To Miss Four Games

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Coyotes Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version