Colorado Avalanche: 3 Trade Destinations for Tyson Barrie

DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 01: Tyson Barrie
DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 01: Tyson Barrie
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OTTAWA, ON – JANUARY 16: Colorado Avalanche Defenceman Tyson Barrie (4) smiles during warm-up before National Hockey League action between the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators on January 16, 2019, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON – JANUARY 16: Colorado Avalanche Defenceman Tyson Barrie (4) smiles during warm-up before National Hockey League action between the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators on January 16, 2019, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Colorado Avalanche have a very valuable commodity in Tyson Barrie. However, they may be better served by trading him to one of these three teams.

The Colorado Avalanche need to trade Tyson Barrie. Barrie is an elite, puck-moving defenseman. As MHSer Hils points out, Tyson is in the following position within the organization:

  • Holds the franchise record for points by a defenseman
  • Holds the franchise record for assists by a defenseman
  • Needs 6 goals to take the franchise record for goals by a defenseman
  • Holds the franchise record for game-winning goals by a defenseman

If you’re more into fancy stats, Avs fan Jibblescribbits came up with this:

It looks like Barrie is in the Kris Letang area of elite.

Recently Matthew Freedman of Action Network did a comparison of Barrie and elite Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi. Here are some of the stats:

  • Josi: 24.82 time on ice, 20.61 Corsi For (year) | 24.75 time on ice, 21.92 Corsi For (month)
  • Barrie: 22.89 time on ice, 18.14 Corsi For (year) | 23.84 time on ice, 20.58 Corsi For (month)
  • Career (Since 2011): Barrie – 0.63, Josi – 0.62
  • Past Year: Barrie – 0.85, Josi – 0.68
  • 2018-19 Season: Barrie – 0.84, Josi – 0.70
  • Past Month: Barrie – 1.00, Josi – 0.64

According to Freedman, you should bet money on Barrie.

No surprise Tyson Barrie leads all Avalanche defensemen in scoring with 39 points (6 goals, 33 assists), putting him on-pace for another 50+ point season — it would be the third of his career and he was just one point shy in 2015-16.

So, our T-Brat is elite. Why would we want to trade him? Two reasons. For one, his trade value is high. GM Joe Sakic got the world for Matt Duchene — he could probably get the same for Barrie. Despite recent success, the Colorado Avalanche are still in rebuild mode.

The second reason is that — the rebuild. Colorado has three players very much in the Tyson Barrie mold at various stages within the system: Sam Girard (NHL roster), Conor Timmins (injured reserve, headed for Eagles soon, fingers crossed), Cale Makar (unsigned, killing it at college.)

All three of those players are some form of puck-moving defenseman who can score and quarterback the powerplay. The team doesn’t need four Barries, especially since they can use the return for him to bolster their rebuild.

The 27-year-old Barrie has one year after this season on a contract with a cap hit of $5.5 million. So, he’s not even a rental — Joe should be able to get at minimum an NHLer, valuable prospect, and a draft pick.

So, let’s look at three teams who may consider trading for Barrie.

DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 17: Torrey Mitchell #17 of the Montreal Canadiens and Tyson Barrie #4 of the Colorado Avalanche battle for position at Pepsi Center on February 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Canadiens 3-2. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 17: Torrey Mitchell #17 of the Montreal Canadiens and Tyson Barrie #4 of the Colorado Avalanche battle for position at Pepsi Center on February 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Canadiens 3-2. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are solidly at third place in the Atlantic Division. For the first time in a while they’re looking to make a playoff run, and maybe a deep one. The so-proud Canadiens are dying to get back to relevancy and even dominance — so proud they reportedly asked about the disgusting Slava Voynov.

T-Brat is much better. He’s younger and, you know, not disgusting. Plus just better.

Though Montreal isn’t struggling in the goal differential department, they do need some serious help on the power play — they’re at #30 in the NHL with just 13% conversion. They’re going to want to do a lot better than that for the playoffs, which is where Barrie can help.

What’s more, their defense is rather old. Captain Shea Weber is 33, and their next in command is Jeff Petry, who’s 31. They also have Dallas castoff Jordie Benn, also 31.  What’s more, they have just two right-hand defensemen on the regular roster.

So, RHD and power play specialist Barrie would come in handy.

Montreal has quite a few extra picks in the upcoming draft — two second rounders, fourth rounders and fifth rounders. Plus, they have their own first rounder. If they weren’t willing to give up their first rounder, I’d want a second and and fourth.

Sure, we’d want Max Domi or Jonathan Drouin, but realistically we might expect winger Artturi Lehkonen (7 goals, 16 assists) or center Philip Danault (8 goals, 25 assists).

Montreal also has a great stable of young forward prospects. Nick Suzuki is the crown jewel — he has 54 points (23 goals, 31 assists) with his major juniors team. However, I wouldn’t turn down Jake Evans, who has 10 goals and 1 assists with the AHL Laval Rocket.

So, a realistic trade:

We’d have to hope Suzuki panned out.

COLUMBUS, OH – OCTOBER 9: Tyson Barrie #4 of the Colorado Avalanche and Sonny Milano #22 of the Columbus Blue Jackets chase after a loose puck during the second period on October 9, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH – OCTOBER 9: Tyson Barrie #4 of the Colorado Avalanche and Sonny Milano #22 of the Columbus Blue Jackets chase after a loose puck during the second period on October 9, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets represent a very interesting trade partner for the Colorado Avalanche. The two teams do like to tango. Plus, they have a couple of players who are rumored to be on their way out — Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky. Both players have been linked in trade rumors to the Avs.

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get both in a trade for Tyson Barrie?

More from Mile High Sticking

Before we examine what that could look like, let’s see about the Jackets’ need for Barrie. They already have some good pieces on defense in Seth Jones, Markus Nutivaara, and Zach Werenski in particular. They’ve got good defensive prospects, too. That’s the point — they love to have a stellar defense.

They’ve got a hold of third in the Metropolitan Division. They’re fine with scoring, being a +7 goals differential. However, they’re #27 in the NHL for power play with a 15.1% conversion rate.

So, I don’t think they’d overpay for Barrie, but they’d be interested.

Would they risk a deep playoff run without Bobrovsky? That’s a tough sell. They may well want one of our goalies, Semyon Varlamov, back in the trade. Now I’m just getting fanciful, right? Well, why not — that’s what this all is.

Both Panarin and Bobrovsky are pending UFAs, so we want some substance back for Barrie and Varlamov. Boone Jenner is having an off year (9 goals, 12 assists), but he’s had 30+ point seasons three times before and came close his rookie year with 29.

Better yet, Pierre-Luc Dubois. The 20-year-old sophomore is at 45 points (18 goals, 27 assists) in 49 games. Hey, yeah, that’s a good player, but we’re also giving you an elite offensive defensemen, which don’t exactly grow on trees. He’s currently got more points than Seth Jones…

Columbus is draft poor this year — just three picks — and missing at least one the following year. I don’t think we’re going to pry any of those away. So, I’d like to see a couple prospects coming back our way — none of them really stand out to me, so let Joe Sakic and Jarmo Kekäläinen hash it out.

So:

Ok, ok. Let’s get more realistic.

DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 25: The Colorado Avalanche’s Tyson Barrie #4 tries to corral a bouncing puck while playing against the Buffalo Sabres during their NHL regular season game on February 25, 2017, at the Pepsi in Denver, Co. The Avalanche won the game 5-3. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 25: The Colorado Avalanche’s Tyson Barrie #4 tries to corral a bouncing puck while playing against the Buffalo Sabres during their NHL regular season game on February 25, 2017, at the Pepsi in Denver, Co. The Avalanche won the game 5-3. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Buffalo Sabres

Because the Sabres have phenom defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and another very good defenseman named Rasmus, Ristolainen, I hesitated to put them on this list.

However, at the time of writing, the Sabres had just dropped out of a playoff spot. They’re having trouble scoring, recording a -3 goal differential thus far. They’re #22 in the NHL for the power play with 16.8% conversion.

Buffalo is a bubble team, and one looking to solidify their own rebuild. However, they’ve been at it longer than Colorado. I’d think they’d appreciate an offensive defenseman like Barrie, especially since he can help take the pressure off Dahlin.

The Sabres have not one, not two, but three first-round picks thanks to dealing Evander Kane (to San Jose) and Ryan O’Reilly (to St. Louis). Plus, they’ve retained their own. So, they could potentially be inspired to put one of their picks in the pot for a sure-thing in Barrie.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Colorado pry goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the deal. And, while I’d love for Rasmus Ristolainen to come our way, we’d be more likely to acquire rental forward Jeff Skinner or veteran forward Vladimir Sobotka.

I like it. What do you think?

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I don’t want to get rid of Tyson Barrie. Yes, just like the rest of Avs Nation, I rag on him on a pretty good basis. The joke this year is Barrie giveth (a power play goal), Barrie taketh away (with a give away).

This is a way for Barrie to really giveth — by yielding a solid return for the Colorado Avalanche. Plus, all the above are Eastern Conference teams, so we won’t have to face his offensive acumen but twice a year.

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