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Toronto Maple Leafs: The Most Disappointing Player This Season

By Wilbert Timmermans

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 07: Morgan Rielly #44, Ilya Mikheyev #65, and Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skate during player introductions before playing the Vegas Golden Knights at the Scotiabank Arena on November 7, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 07: Morgan Rielly #44, Ilya Mikheyev #65, and Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skate during player introductions before playing the Vegas Golden Knights at the Scotiabank Arena on November 7, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – NOVEMBER 9: Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tyson Barrie #94 returns to the locker room after the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Scotiabank Arena on November 9, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – NOVEMBER 9: Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tyson Barrie #94 returns to the locker room after the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Scotiabank Arena on November 9, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images) /

James Tanner

I have to go with Tyson Barrie on this one.

That said, I don’t think Barrie has been awful, he just hasn’t been deployed in a way in which I think you’ve got to deploy  a player like this.

Barrie doesn’t have any goals and he doesn’t have as many assists as you’d like to see from a player like this.

I hate to pile on Barrie, because I’m  sure everyone is going to say him but he  was a high profile pick up and he’s nowhere near the game breaker he has been in the past.

I don’t think he’s played that badly, he just hasn’t lived up to expectations.

While he’s got to be responsible for some of that, the Leafs haven’t activated their D like they have in the past. There have been countless examples where Barrie should have jumped into the rush, but didn’t.

Until the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babock chooses to unleash the best, I don’t think Barrie has any chance of living up to expectations.

If you’ve got elite players, you’ve got to let them do what makes them elite, and the Leafs haven’t allowed Barrie to do that.

In order to get the most out of Barrie, the Leafs need to give him permission to jump into rushes, pinch at will, and most of all, they should give him some prime PP1 minutes.

Next. 4 Strong Reasons to Change Coaches. dark

He’s got a way better shot than Rielly, and it would help get him going. I believe that Barrie’s game has been over criticized lately, and that he will be fine. The Leafs don’t have any alternative but to start playing him the right way, and so I think he’ll pick it up in the next part of the season.

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