Tyson Barrie: An Unexpected Toronto Maple Leafs Scapegoat

Toronto Maple Leafs  fans are known for many things, fierce loyalty, passion and intense devotion ,just to name a few.

But if you ask players like Larry Murphy and Jake Gardiner, Toronto Maple Leafs fans are also known for using one player as a scapegoat, and the treatment that player receives can be brutal.

With the departure of long time Leaf Jake Gardiner, Leaf fans have found a new scapegoat, former Colorado Avalanche blueliner, Tyson Barrie.

Barrie is no stranger to the backlash he receives from fans, he was subject to being the scapegoat at times during his tenure with Colorado. But Leaf fans have taken that treatment to a whole new level.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Tyson Barrie

Tyson Barrie was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1st with forward Alexander Kerfoot. Fans rejoiced when the trade was announced, it felt like the search for the right handed defenseman the team needed so badly was finally over.

With two assists in his first regular season game as a Toronto Maple Leaf, everyone was feeling pretty optimistic about Tyson Barrie.

But it wasn’t long before the fans who were so excited about the addition of Tyson Barrie, quickly changed their attitude towards the blueliner and wanted him traded. With just five points in his first twenty games, the start of Barrie’s season with the Leafs was anything but spectacular. And former head coach Mike Babcock had some interesting things to say about Barrie.

Mike Babcock was quoted, “I think the biggest change for him, for sure, is the puck touches on the No. 1 power play, you’ve been that your whole career, suddenly you don’t get to go out on the power play and, if the (No. 1) power play’s good … if they score you don’t even get to go out. So, you think about that, that’s where you got all your feel, now you’ve got to reinvent yourself a little bit.”

Barrie was removed from the role he found so much success in during his first eight years in the NHL, and was expected to play a role he was not familiar with nor had he ever found success with. Leading up to the firing of Mike Babcock, the voices calling to trade Barrie grew louder and louder, many placed the blame of the team’s struggles in the beginning of the season completely on Barrie.

Leafs New Coach

The drama reached an all time high when Mike Babcock was fired on November 20th, and was replaced by the Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe. Barrie’s play quickly turned around, and in the first three games under Sheldon Keefe, Barrie put up 5 points, 3 goals and 2 assists. His three goals in three consecutive road games set a new franchise record.

Since the coaching change, Barrie has put up 5 goals and 21 assists in thirty three games, that’s an average of 0.78 points per game.

The Leafs power play also saw a significant increase in success since the coaching change with Barrie quarterbacking PP1. Tyson Barrie is back to being the player the Leafs thought they were getting, yet every night, no matter the result, social media is flooded with comments about how terrible of a player Tyson Barrie is, and why he should be traded.

Dubas knew exactly the type of player he was acquiring when he traded for Tyson Barrie. He did not trade for a big, physical, stay at home defenseman. He traded for a skilled, right handed, puck moving defenseman, who has his defensive flaws. Tyson Barrie (post coaching change) has played exactly as advertised.

Instead of giving Tyson Barrie the Larry Murphy or Jake Gardiner treatment, it’s time to do what fans never seemed to do with Larry Murphy or Jake Gardiner. Appreciate Barrie for what he brings to the team. With the absence of Morgan Rielly due to injury, the presence of Tyson Barrie on Toronto’s blue line has never been more important.

Since Sheldon Keefe took over, Tyson Barrie has a 52.59% Corsi, and the Leafs get 52% of the shots when he’s on the ice, 62% of the goals, 54% expected-goals, 54% of the scoring chances and 56% of the high-danger chances.

He is the third highest 5v5 scoring defenseman in the NHL during this time. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

And as unpopular of an opinion as it is, Leafs Nation, it’s time to give Tyson Barrie the credit he deserves. Stop belittling him for not being the player he was never advertised as being. Tyson Barrie has been great for the Leafs since the coaching change, and he has been a fantastic addition to this team.

Leafs Nation, my challenge to you is to get behind Tyson Barrie for the remainder of the season. Appreciate him for what he brings to the team, and what success he has been apart of since coming to Toronto. It’s time to be better, and stop using one single player as a scapegoat. Win as a team, lose as a team.

And as always, GO LEAFS GO!!