Colorado Avalanche: Tyson Barrie’s Case for the Norris

Under Bednar/Pratt’s tutelage, could Tyson Barrie become a Norris trophy finalist?

Shortly after Nolan Pratt was added to the Colorado Avalanche coaching staff I spent an afternoon listening to BSN Avalanche’s weekly podcast to hear their thoughts on the move. They loved the hire. In fact, AJ Haefele (BSN Editor-in-Chief) loved the hire so much he made a borderline crazy statement. Tyson Barrie could be in the race for the James Norris Memorial trophy, awarded to the league’s best defenseman.

“It would not at all surprise me if Tyson Barrie ended up in the Norris conversation at midseason. I think this is going to be a God send for Tyson Barrie.” – AJ Haefele

Now I love Barrie as much as the next guy, but the Norris? My knee jerk reaction was definitely one of astonishment and disbelief. However after some reflection, I don’t think he’s off base.

Lets be clear, I don’t think Tyson Barrie will ever be the league’s best defenseman. The likes of Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman and Drew Doughty are currently better than he’ll ever be. Even younger players like Aaron Ekblad, Hampus Lindholm and Morgan Rielly will likely surpass him.

So if he’s never going to be the best defenseman in the league, how’s he going to be a Norris finalist? A fair question, especially when we look at the language used in the voting criteria.

The Norris is awarded to “the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position”. While Barrie’s defense is underrated, its a stretch to claim he’s among the league’s best “all-round” defensemen.

The good news for Barrie is that voters have an inherent bias towards offensive defensemen. This has been apparent for a while now. Over the past five seasons the finalist with the most points, or who tied for the most points, has won the Norris 4 out of 5 times. The only player who opposes this trend is the most recent recipient; Drew Doughty. A questionable pick if you ask me.

At even strength the answer seems obvious. Dave Farrish, Randy Carlyle’s longtime right hand man, was hired last summer. He was charged with handling the defense for the Colorado Avalanche after Andre Tourigny’s abrupt departure.

If reports are to be believed, Farrish worked heavily with Barrie last season, more so than any other defenseman. Unfortunately, he forced Barrie to adopt a style of play that emphasizes hitting and shot blocking; neither of which fit his particular skill set. Hence, he regressed heavily at even strength.

On the powerplay its a little more difficult to distinguish why he was so much more efficient. For fun I looked at his seasonal time on ice (TOI) totals while on the powerplay.

The amount of time he spent on the powerplay shouldn’t affect his production on a per 60 basis. So why am I bringing this up at all? It illustrates that Barrie has gradually been given more and more responsibility on the powerplay. This leads to increased experience.

So while the amount of time he played with the man advantage is not significantly different from 2015, its possible he’s figured out how to maximize his skill set with the extra man.

Next: What Preseason Has Taught Us So Far

Verdict:

Since he’s got here, Bednar has been preaching an aggressive style of play which falls right in Barrie’s ballpark. Additionally, Pratt was running an extremely mobile blueline with Lake Erie last season. Under a newer, more progressive system, there’s a good chance Barrie returns to form at even strength for the Colorado Avalanche. If Barrie can maintain his pace on the powerplay on top of this, we shouldn’t be surprised to see him as a finalist.

Unfortunately, he happens to be playing in the same era as Erik Karlsson. On top of that, PK Subban is now playing on a very good Nashville squad. So while I have every confidence Barrie could be a finalist, he’ll be hard pressed to to actually win the Norris.