TYSON BARRIE - Defenseman - 28 - $5.50MM Cap Hit - UFA in 2020-2021
LAST UPDATED 7/28/19
Barrie is a good example of the conflict between advanced stats and box score numbers / traditional scouting. With point totals in the high 50's for the past two seasons, Barrie is near the top of the NHL in point production by a defenseman. Given that one year of his services was traded (with some smaller pieces) for Nazem Kadri, teams evidently value him as a top-pairing or close piece. His traits as a player would support this evaluation. Barrie has excellent speed from the back end and is invaluable in transition. He has a good shot and can quarterback a power play with ease. He has high end puck skills and is a fantastic playmaker from the back end. Barrie's isolated impact metrics, though, are not nearly as optimistic, and they measure him as a net negative play driver on offense and an outright liability on defense. While these numbers are far from the be-all-end-all of player evaluation, they are worrying, and do get at a larger point about Barrie's defense: he is not physical enough or defensively adept enough to be a shutdown blueliner. At 28 years old, it's questionable that Barrie would ever shift his playstyle and adopt some physical tendencies, so at this point Barrie is who he is. That being said, Barrie is still an elite offensive producer and should have a free agency experience similar to that of Kevin Shattenkirk. Whether or not he ends up like Shattenkirk is up in the air, but I do think his defense, while not strong, is still significantly better than Shattenkirk's and should allow him to be a valuable #2 defenseman for the duration of his contract.
Barrie is a good example of the conflict between advanced stats and box score numbers / traditional scouting. With point totals in the high 50's for the past two seasons, Barrie is near the top of the NHL in point production by a defenseman. Given that one year of his services was traded (with some smaller pieces) for Nazem Kadri, teams evidently value him as a top-pairing or close piece. His traits as a player would support this evaluation. Barrie has excellent speed from the back end and is invaluable in transition. He has a good shot and can quarterback a power play with ease. He has high end puck skills and is a fantastic playmaker from the back end. Barrie's isolated impact metrics, though, are not nearly as optimistic, and they measure him as a net negative play driver on offense and an outright liability on defense. While these numbers are far from the be-all-end-all of player evaluation, they are worrying, and do get at a larger point about Barrie's defense: he is not physical enough or defensively adept enough to be a shutdown blueliner. At 28 years old, it's questionable that Barrie would ever shift his playstyle and adopt some physical tendencies, so at this point Barrie is who he is. That being said, Barrie is still an elite offensive producer and should have a free agency experience similar to that of Kevin Shattenkirk. Whether or not he ends up like Shattenkirk is up in the air, but I do think his defense, while not strong, is still significantly better than Shattenkirk's and should allow him to be a valuable #2 defenseman for the duration of his contract.
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