Name: Lowetide: Tyson Barrie’s skills and how Oilers coach Dave Tippett will deploy him
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Lowetide: Tyson Barrie’s skills and how Oilers coach Dave Tippett will deploy him

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Oct 20, 2020In the last three seasons, has averaged 58.9 points per 82 games and in that time for points by a defender. The last defenceman to reach 50 points in a single season was Sheldon Souray (53 points) in 2008-09.Barrie has done it three times in the past six seasons.As impressively as his resume reads, he will have a hard time improving on Edmonton’s fantastic power play (, No. 1 in the ) from a year ago. It’s a credit to his offensive reputation that his addition to a pristine special teams unit is considered (by most) to be a likely upgrade.What does he bring? Barrie can move the puck quickly, passing it under control and on target. He’s also mobile and can transport the puck to safety and jump in on an offensive sortie. He has a plus shot, can find seams on the power play and is aggressive in making plays with the puck.He can also effectively retrieve and outlet from his own zone, a skill set that is a condition of employment in the current NHL.The Athletic‘s Dom Luszczyszyn&nbsp; an outstanding scouting report on this player, saying: “Barrie was legitimately bad under , but was much improved under Sheldon Keefe. He was an asset on the power play and drove play at 5-on-5. This is a good fit for the Oilers who need a legitimate PP1 quarterback as well as a capable puck-mover for the back-end.”On the right side, Edmonton has a quality shutdown rearguard (when healthy) in , an emerging two-way talent in . Barrie gives the team some new wrinkles, a defenceman who can drive play and help quarterback the power play.It’s a substantial signing, and at $3.75 million per year (via ) this might be the best free-agent signing by an Oilers general manager in memory.Barrie is a productive offensive player in two game states — even strength and on the power play. He posts more than 1.00 points per game a season (only among Oilers blue managed that number a year ago) and posts strong offensive totals at five on five (courtesy ):This is usage over three seasons and two teams ( in the first two seasons, in 2019-20). Barrie’s time on ice in Toronto (18:07) trails both Nurse (19:18) and Ethan Bear (18:25) and his 25 points puts him one behind Nurse. At five on five points per 60, he slides ahead of Nurse (1.14 per 60) by a slim margin.Barrie’s most common on-ice teammate 5-on-5 was , with the defenceman scoring 1-9-10 in 535 minutes (1.12 points per 60). Nurse played 600 minutes with his most common on-ice teammate () and scored 2-16-18 (1.80 points-per-60).An educated guess would have the new arrival playing a significant amount with Edmonton’s captain and benefiting from the experience.The power play is an area of strength for Barrie, as his ability to read, react, pass and shoot all come into play. He has been blessed with exceptional teammates over the three seasons below. He can hammer on the 5-on-4.The eye-popping number here is his 2017-18 power-play points-per-60 number (7.11), good enough for No. 2 in the entire NHL for regular blue liners. He finished behind only future teammate that season, a fact that perhaps could have helped predict the difficulty with duplicating an exceptional skill on one team.Barrie played most often on the power play in Toronto with (147 minutes) and Auston Matthews (142 minutes). The Maple Leafs no doubt expected a more handsome payoff with him on a high octane power play, but Barrie’s 3.79 per 60 was good for only No. 39 among regular power-play defencemen in 2019-20.The Oilers will be expecting far more, and have the weaponry to back up expectations. Edmonton’s top power-play defender in 2019-20 () finished with 4.77 points-per-60, No. 22 among league regulars.Barrie was the No. 3 Toronto defenceman in terms of 5-on-5 time on ice, and his possession numbers in the discipline over three years are solid. He isn’t going to wow anyone with heavy, effective defensive work in the high-danger scoring zones, but he is an efficient player in gaining his share and more of overall possession across three years and two teams.The 2017-18 Avalanche had some wobble, but Barrie was on the good side of goal differential that season and his possession numbers relative to teammates also finished positive. Considering his offensive contributions stated above, the defensive numbers shown here are an easy pill to swallow for any NHL coach.allows us to drill down on each player and see performances against the league’s elite talent. It also informs about usage by the coach — if a defender plays a feature role against elites, his percentage of time on ice would be over 32 percent, sometimes well over that number. Something in the mid-20s suggests a third pairing deployment.Barrie played second pairing minutes at times during his final two seasons with the Avalanche, but was strictly third pair with Toronto. The number that jumps off the page here is the GA-60 with the Maple Leafs, a truly frightening number that was the worst among regulars on the team. In the Luszczyszyn piece linked to above there’s mention of struggles under Babcock, that could explain what appears to be a monstrous outlier on the overall resume.The rest of the numbers are about what one might expect. Barrie had some struggles in 2017-18, a fine campaign in 2018-19, and posted a possession number good enough to leave one contemplating those 20 goals against in just over 300 minutes during 2019-20.This player spent very little time on the penalty kill a year ago and it hasn’t been a factor in his usage during his career.Edmonton ran two RH defencemen heavily against elites in 2019-20. Bear averaged 6:36 and Larsson 5:52 last season, while third-pairing option (who has since signed with the ) playing only 2:54 per game against elites. That may have been due to injury, but there’s no doubt Tippett gave the third pairing limited exposure against the toughest competition.Tippett will have more options with a defensive alignment of Larsson, Bear and Barrie on the right side. He may decide to roll the pairings equally against the elites or use Barrie as an offensive zone start option no matter the opposition ( got that treatment during his time with Edmonton).The major benefit could come when injuries hit. The first recall option, , has a skill set similar to Barrie. If he is recalled, and Tippett runs his healthy regulars on the top two pairs, that gives Edmonton real depth at an important position.An opening night defensive alignment of&nbsp; Nurse-Bear, and matches skill sets well and gives the two younger men (Bear and Jones) a veteran partner.Barrie landed in a great spot for his skill set. He may not improve the power play, but if he can contribute to duplicating the brilliance of a year ago that would have great value. At 5-on-5, if he can keep the puck moving in a good direction the Oilers will benefit in a big way. The prospect of Barrie’s smooth outlets landing with McDavid or flying up the ice is an exciting possibility.The contract is a gift, the player is a Godsend and the deployment seems to be set with some room to move based on chemistry and how Tippett wants to rotate his defencemen.Oilers fans have seen too many free-agent signings to completely trust any new arrival.The season ahead will tell us if the assessment is too good to be true.This has the look of a perfect match.(Photo: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

Oct 20, 2020In the last three seasons, has averaged 58.9 points per 82 games and in that time for points by a defender. The last defenceman to reach 50 points in a single season was Sheldon Souray (53 points) in 2008-09.Barrie has done it three times in the past six seasons.As impressively as his resume reads, he will have a hard time improving on Edmonton’s fantastic power play (, No. 1 in the ) from a year ago. It’s a credit to his offensive reputation that his addition to a pristine special teams unit is considered (by most) to be a likely upgrade.What does he bring? Barrie can move the...

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Allan Mitchell

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Lowetide: Tyson Barrie’s skills and how Oilers coach Dave Tippett will deploy him

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