Tyson Barrie of the Colorado Avalanche, who will be a restricted agent at the end of the season with arbitration rights, would be a good addition to the Arizona Coyotes team.
According to Today’s Slapshot writer Chris Nichols (todaysslapshot.com):
"“So he’s the name to watch in the sense of how do their contract talks go with him. I don’t think they’ve gone very far, and if they don’t go well I could see Barrie being a guy that teams say, ‘Alright, what’s it going to take to do this.’"
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Barrie is currently earning $2.6 million towards the cap, so the Av’s need to decide if they want to move forward with him wanting more money, or trade him instead. Some other teams vying for this talented, 24 year old D-man who shoots right, are the Washington Capitals to fill the void of Mike Green’s departure, and the Boston Bruins who lost Dougie Hamilton.
Here’s Barrie in action:
GM Don Maloney lost out in the Hamilton sweepstakes, so he may be intrigued by acquiring Barrie to give Oliver Ekman-Larsson a blue-line partner he’s been seeking. He has 10 points in 15 games this season, and is a decent defensive player. He possesses a 44.8% CorsiFor% (shot attempts for percentage). While that may not impress too many people, he had never had a CF% relative of below 3.0% in his career.
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And, that means he’s a good possession player, helping his team take more shots on net. Every team needs that quality, but the Arizona Coyotes especially need it. They have been outshot more than they care to admit. That wears out the defense, and puts the goalie out to dry with no support. If you are outshooting your opponent, chances are you are not playing in your defensive zone to excess.
The Coyotes have about $11 million in salary cap space, and this is an opportunity to strengthen their team. Of course the Av’s will want something in return, and the Arizona Coyotes have lots of young promising prospects to offer up, as well as players on their active roster.
Names like Lucas Lessio ($.833M), Michael Stone ($1.15M) whom are both RFA next season, as Barrie will be. Or, another option might be Stone and a draft choice. The salaries are close, and I’m sure if Maloney were to present a deal to the Av’s they would consider it.
Comparing Stone to Barrie, it is clear Barrie is the better player. He’s averaged .66 points per game over the last couple of seasons, and Stone’s is a mere .25 PPG. Stone is a career +/- minus 22, while Barrie is a plus 9. The Av’s may want some other arrangement, but the Arizona Coyotes should definitely investigate the possibility of acquiring this good, young defenseman.
I think OEL would agree they would make a formidable combination on the blue-line.