Colorado Avalanche: Tyson Barrie Arbitration Not a Bad Thing

The Colorado Avalanche are slated to head to salary arbitration with Tyson Barrie on July 29, and although a long-term contract may be desired, arbitration is certainly the next best option.

Most would say that heading to arbitration is never the right move for a team and a player just because of the animosity it causes in relationships.

However, in the case of Tyson Barrie, arbitration should be the only option if they can’t sign him long-term.

When a player goes to arbitration, management gets to decide whether or not they want the contract awarded to be for one year or two years.

The Colorado Avalanche will almost certainly choose the two year option if they make it to the hearing without a deal already in place.

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At the end of two years, Tyson Barrie will still be a restricted free agent (RFA), which means that the Avalanche will still have his rights, and won’t risk losing him to the free agent frenzy that summer.

Furthermore, two more years gives both sides a bit longer to assess value, and come to a better agreement on a contract moving forward, if indeed there is one.

By all accounts Tyson Barrie figures to be one of the best puck-moving defensemen at that time, so his value will either be worth the long term contract at that point, or the Avalanche will have no issues finding a trade partner, as is the case currently.

The Colorado Avalanche currently have just under 6.5 million in cap space after the recent signing of Mikhail Grigorenko to a one-year 1.3 million dollar deal.

A good amount of that remaining cap figures to be either given to Tyson Barrie, or awarded to him in arbitration, which will put the Avalanche right up next to the cap ceiling.

However, with both Jarome Iginla and Brad Stuart coming off the books next year, the Avalanche have some money to spend.

Especially with role players like Comeau, Colborne, and Soderberg signed through at least the 2017-18 season.

They have a good crop of rookies coming up as well, with Mikko Rantanen, J.T. Compher, and A.J. Greer all hoping to make an impact as early as this season, and Tyson Jost waiting in the wings.

So, signing Tyson Barrie to a two-year deal worth the high amount of even 5.5 mil a season (hypothetically) is not that much of a bad thing.

Although you would hope to lock him up long term at that price, the likelihood of that happening is very slim.

Still, some individuals may be sweating the fact that an arbitrator could conceivably award Tyson Barrie an amount of money that exceeds the current cap space the Colorado Avalanche have.

Tyson Barrie’s Arbitration Value

That won’t happen just based off of the recent signing of Torey Krug to a deal worth 5.25 million a season over the course of four years.

Sure, Krug’s production hasn’t been quite as prolific as Barrie’s, but his 83 points in 159 games over the last two seasons is not that shy of Barrie’s 102 in 158 games over the last two seasons.

Furthermore, Krug plays similar ice time to Barrie; Barrie averaged 23:12 last season, and Krug averaged 21:37.

Yet, Krug is a +39 over his career, and Barrie is a -7 over his, with a dismal -16 showing last season, while Krug showed with a solid +9.

Those numbers are certainly cursory numbers, but Krug figures to be more defensively responsible, and no one is calling the Bruins a defensively stacked team anymore.

Krug played important minutes last season, and so did Barrie, but Krug has the upper hand defensively, while Barrie has the upper hand offensively.

Conclusion

All this boils down to one thing, if the Colorado Avalanche hope to sign Barrie long term, then they are probably looking at the 5.75-6.0 million range, which is a price I doubt they’re willing to go to.

In the meantime they can wait another two years based on an arbitration award, and see if he’s worth the big bucks after a solid one or two year showing during the length of that contract.

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If they find that he is, but also find that he doesn’t want to stick around, then they’ll still have the RFA leeway to ensure that they don’t lose him for nothing.

Furthermore, his value should be high enough to ensure that he garners a huge return in a trade.

All-in-all, arbitration for Tyson Barrie and the Colorado Avalanche figures to be a win-win situation for both sides.

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