Training camp is just weeks away and the Calgary Flames appear to be close to adding a former Edmonton Oilers’ blueliner to their camp roster. According to Frank Seravalli, the Flames are close to bringing in Tyson Barrie on a professional tryout.
Who is Tyson Barrie
The 33-year-old right-shot blueliner was drafted in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Colorado Avalanche and played his best hockey with the team. At his prime, he was a three-time 50-point offensive defenceman who could quarterback a top power play.
He then dropped off, putting up three consecutive 40+ point seasons before being traded to the Nashville Predators in 2022–23. Barrie struggled from there, putting up just 15 points last season in an injury-shortened 41-game campaign.
The former Kelowna Rockets star has remained unsigned this summer due to his abysmal play on defence. Take a look at his isolated impacts below.
These numbers are really, really bad for any team and are probably a large part of why he has remained unsigned this offseason.
Is there a fit with the Flames?
This is not going to be a good year for the Calgary Flames. They are probably going to be very bad on the ice, so adding someone like Barrie is an addition not really for what he can do to help the team win. The Flames are probably looking at Barrie for four reasons.
Primarily, Barrie is a good stop-gap NHLer who can play minutes if one or more of their key blueliners are traded. The rumour mill has not stopped about the Flames trading Rasmus Andersson, and the team has been reported to be listening to offers on MacKenzie Weegar as well. Daniil Miromanov is also a right-shot, as is Brayden Pachal, but neither are really guys that you want to be playing top minutes for a full season.
Second, it’s handy depth for the team in case one of their young players isn’t able to step up to the NHL this season. The Flames have two right-shot defence prospects signed beyond the aforementioned four and they are Hunter Brzustewicz and Zayne Parekh. The latter is probably headed back to the OHL, while the former is heading into his first AHL season. Both need some time to season before they are NHL-ready and having Barrie in the organization isn’t a bad thing.
Third, the Flames didn’t really have a bona fide power play quarterback last season, using both Andersson and Weegar throughout the year. Both were generally fine, but neither really made the impact that the team needed from the blueline. Adding Barrie would be an improvement on offence, even though it would be a big step back defensively.
Finally, while Barrie adds more flash on the power play, which is great for fan engagement, he is really not good defensively. This helps the team to be worse than last year, and when you’re in a rebuilding year, being bad generally leads to a higher draft pick. This is definitely good for a team that needs elite young stars to kick off their next chapter.
It might be somewhat weird seeing Barrie wearing Flames red after seeing him wearing Avalanche burgundy, Leafs blue, Oilers orange, and Predators yellow throughout his career. But like how VPN services can mask a user, underneath it all he is still Tyson Barrie with his power play prowess, no matter the jersey.
At the end of the day, Barrie isn’t really an upgrade for this team but does provide handy depth at a very low cost. If he works out, the team probably sign him around the league minimum of $850K, which they can more than afford. If he can make the team’s power play more exciting to watch and if he can be used to help mentor young players like Ilya Solovyov, Jeremie Poirier, and others, it could be beneficial down the line.
This isn’t a bad idea at all for the Flames.
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