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2011 Cap Hit: $900,000
2012 Status: Signed, wait what?
The stats don’t necessarily tell the tale of Tyson Barrie’s NHL debut. This kid was absolutely robbed of his first NHL point on at least three separate occasions in his 10 game stint with the Avs. Barrie fought hard for a spot out of training camp but fell down the depth chart behind Stefan Elliott and Matt Hunwick, and spent a majority of the season in Lake Erie, where he had an impressive 32 points in 49 games before joining the Avs for their playoff push. It seems unfair to give Barrie anything but an incomplete, playing in only ten games, but the young defenseman played meaningful minutes in an absolutely pivotal part of the season, so we’ll do it anyway.
Cole’s Take: Barrie is small for a defensemen at 5’10" and we saw him muscled off the puck a few times towards the end of the season, but he’s got great vision on the ice and absolutely wires passes out of his own zone. Barrie also has a surprisingly fast slap shot, it doesn’t seem like a very heavy shot, but he can definitely let it fly from the point. Barrie will face many of the same challenges making the roster next year, especially with a developing Duncan Siemens waiting below him, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get some serious time with the Avs next season. He plays a pretty smart game and is better positionally than Elliott but he’ll need to get the offense going if he doesn’t want to slip back to Lake Erie. Should be an interesting camp battle to watch in the fall.
Cheryl's Take: I love Tyson Barrie. I think he's fantabulous. So everything I say is totally with a ton of bias. Caveat out of the way, Barrie had a bit of a rough beginning in his first few games with the big club. He admitted to feeling nervous, overwhelmed and a bit out of his league. However, his second time around proved a bit different. He was far more confident with the puck and sound in his own end. He does not have the offensive weapons that Stefan Elliott does, but he sees the ice exceptionally well and has solid positioning. At first, he tended to get pushed around in the corners, but as his NHL experience grew, so did his ability to stay with the play when battling for both pucks and ice. Like all rookies, he made some glaring mistakes, with at least one being extremely costly. However, I'm confident he learned from it and will be better for it. During the off-season, he has been training with Ryan O`Byrne. I woudn't be the least bit surprised to see a vast improvement in Barrie's game come training camp, especially with toughness and strength on the puck and in the corners. Let's just hope O'Byrne doesn't try to get Barrie blocking shots like he does. I don't think Barrie's little frame could handle the type of beating O'Byrne takes.