1:15pm: The Edmonton Oilers have confirmed the signing of Barrie. The deal is for one year and $3.75MM, a great value even based on his disappointing production this past season nevertheless the immense potential he brings playing with the Oilers elite power play.
12:00pm: Things didn’t work out in Toronto for Tyson Barrie and now the mobile defenseman is going to take a year to revitalize his value. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Barrie has agreed to terms with the Edmonton Oilers on a one-year contract. The value is expected to come in just under $4MM, well below Barrie’s expected market value.
When Barrie was traded to the Maple Leafs last season, many expected that the talented puck-mover would excel on Toronto’s skilled roster. Instead, he had one of the worst seasons of his career, posting his second-lowest points per game since becoming a full-time NHLer and recording just five goals, the fewest in a season as a regular player. Suddenly, a player who had typically recorded 50+ points per year with the Colorado Avalanche was heading toward the free agent market for the first time with a sour season behind him, not to mention entering a market dictated by a flat cap and chock full of right-handed defensemen.
Barrie was unlikely to receive the lucrative, long-term contract that many expected prior to last season, but under $4MM as an AAV is still a major surprise. In fact, TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that Barrie turned down an offer with an AAV of $6MM to join the Oilers on a one-year deal. Why? Opportunity, especially with Edmonton’s Oscar Klefbom expected to miss the season due to injury. Barrie will be given the quarterback role on the power play that was the best in the NHL this past season. He will also become the team’s go-to source of even strength offense on the blue line, as only Klefbom and Darnell Nurse topped 30 points this year. Given the numbers that Barrie produced in Colorado, even in some pretty dismal seasons for the club, he has enormous upside if he can return to form in Edmonton playing alongside their superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Barrie is banking on himself this year. It’s a risk, but it has a high likelihood of paying off. The skilled blue liner has the potential for a career season this year and will enter a 2021 free agent market where his only real competition for the title of top right-handed defender is Dougie Hamilton. A small payday today could transform into a massive payday next summer.
This man wanted 8 x 8 a year ago…
Na just wanted out of loser land
Zing!
As bad as he was on the Leafs this is a good deal, he’s gonna rack up points on the power play.
He’s gonna move himself right up outta Edmonton’s price range after this season imho… should be one helluva player for them?
PP1 QB box checked….Who’s his stay at home partner though. Benning would have looked great there. It has to be Larsson I suppose. Losing Benning really hurts this team. He played Defense. From all that I know about Bouchard he’s not very good at defence side but his O ability is top notch. You still need an NHL proven DMan Kenny especially after resigning Mikey boy. There’s still a part of me waiting for the deal that moves Miko and brings in another starter in which case Mikey is a decent fall back for 15 games. He can still stop a puck but the D has not improved in front of him so there’s that. If Klefbom continues to play through the arthritis then one could potentially say the D is improved.
Barrie,Larson,Klefbom,Bear,Nurse,Cowboy…Jones,Bouchard or Lagesson..Take out Klefbom and
It don’t look that great. Sorry Connor sorry Leon this D chorps just won’t cut it. Miko needs a Vezina caliber type of improving season for them to be going anywhere near a deep postseason run….This fan doesn’t see it happening atleast not at this point. Although Oil fan as we know….#there’s always next year
Barrie is likely to show his expertise at racking up empty points. Can he QB the PP? Yeah, but it isn’t going to make the difference that most of the analysts think. He’s always been a turnover machine, and his D-partner will have a lot of heavy lifting covering his butt. And, he really can’t defend his backside out of a wet paper bag (Sorry, Brian Lawton, we disagree there). You should listen to a few TOR game replays on TuneIn (before they disappear) and hear Bonesie having frantic moments watching plays blow up in front of his eyes. And he may believe the EDM media will be soft, in comparison to the G.T.A., but he’ll find out the hard way, that they also have some teeth, and the fans won’t be forgiving for someone who is over hyped. The upside? It’s (thankfully) only a one year deal, and maybe he’ll get flipped at the trade deadline, thereby reducing the amount of carnage he can cause. And, there will be some fans who think that $3.75MM is an overpay. Just sayin’…
Tyson Barrie will most likely have a very good year playing the point on the power play of which will totally inflate his numbers to the detriment of a team signing him the following year. The team that will sign him then will get the true Tyson Barrie, the player who will put up decent but not great offensive numbers but will still be the soft and horrible defensive player who will almost always make a poor play in his own zone to selfishly try to improve his offensive stats, in other words, it’s only a matter of time before a team gets the real Tyson Barrie and will regret the player and the contract that they will ultimately get sucked in for. Adios and good riddance Tyson, I hope on your way out the door, it gave you a swift kick in the ass!!!
@LeafFanAllMyLife – And here, I thought I was the hardest on him! Welcome aboard! :) And, for the other readers who don’t hate on him like us, just remember, you are as entitled to that view as we are for ours. It isn’t a matter of who will be right or wrong, but how each of us view his (or anybody else, really) value as a player.
I’m not going to say he’s good defensively, but in typical leafs fan style, a guy who has had 4 – 50pt+ seasons and has one decent 39 point season is only truly a mediocre offensive player. Give your head a shake. 4 50 point seasons then god to the leafs and sucks? I think I see the problem! And don’t say Colorado had a higher flying offence because all you leafs fans do is say how great your offence is!
Give your head a shake, you obviously don’t know anything about hockey.
Good bye…
Tyson Barrie will most likely have a very good year playing the point on the power play of which will totally inflate his numbers to the detriment of a team signing him the following year. The team that will sign him then will get the true Tyson Barrie, the player who will put up decent but not great offensive numbers but will still be the soft and horrible defensive player who will almost always make a poor play in his own zone to selfishly try to improve his offensive stats, in other words, it’s only a matter of time before a team gets the real Tyson Barrie and will regret the player and the contract that they will ultimately get sucked in for. Adios and good riddance Tyson, I hope on your way out the door, it gave you a swift kick in the ass!!!