Tyson Barrie
Acquired from the Colorado Avalanche via trade
Age: 27
Shoots: Right
Tyson Barrie is best characterized as an offensive facilitator. He has fantastic instincts for a defenseman in joining the play up ice and uses his great vision to move the puck quickly out of the zone with the intent of creating offense.
His style of play fits very well with the offensively gifted Toronto Maple Leafs, which he addressed after the trade by saying, “If I can get these guys in scoring positions and jump up and follow the play and try to create some offence, that’s my game.”
Barrie’s closest comparable in the NHL may be his new teammate Morgan Rielly.
Barrie and Rielly are both smooth skating, offensive defensemen who excel on the power-play and have scored 65 points/82 games and 64 points/82 games respectively over the past two seasons.
The key difference between Rielly and Barrie is that Barrie shoots right-handed, something coach Mike Babcock has coveted in a top-pair defenseman for years.
For all the positive things there are to say about Barrie’s game and his fit with the Leafs, he does have some defensive shortcomings.
Barrie ranks as a below average defender at breakups/60 and percentage of allowed entries into the defensive zone and is trending downwards in those categories over the past few seasons.
He is also rarely physical in the defensive zone. Much like Rielly, Barrie’s best defense will be his ability to push the puck up ice and minimize defensive zone time.
Barrie will play in the top-four with the Leafs and should serve as a very strong power-play quarterback.