Idk I'd absolutely keep Barrie over stralman. I don't understand this Barrie hate from my eyes he's had 4 good to great playoff rounds for Edmonton he's a keeper for one more year.

I think at this point most fans don't see him being worth 4.5 mil. Because of Bouchard's development, he has become expendable.

That being said I think trading foegle for picks is a priority over Barrie.

I really like this roster. I think the problem is not just Barrie's salary cap it is a stylistic one. Barrie is a great offensive defenseman but struggles defensively. If you keep him, you are either asking Broberg (a young D) to cover for him defensively or you're asking Barrie to play 2nd pair and then leaving Bouchard and Broberg on 3rd. Two young D on their own and Barrie covering harder defensive matchups. I think having a more defensively conscious D partner for both Bouchard (Kulak) and Broberg will protect them in the early stages of their careers and help them develop but be a better combination that Barrie's offensive talents. So even if you swapped for someone of similar cap space but with a stronger defensive game, I think that would be a better approach.

Why not run with a nurse Barrie pairing again? Barrie plays his best with a good skating partner. Against the jets his first year here they were unreal pair.
Kulak Bouchard
Broberg ceci

Or
Nurse bouchard
Kulak Barrie
Broberg ceci

I personally think alot of the talk of Barrie being a nightmare in his own zone are a bit over blown and idk how much buy into that I've seen a tremendous amount of focus being put on those aspects from him and more than enough improvements to justify keeping.