The Colorado Avalanche have signed defenseman Tyson Barrie to a four-year contract extension worth an average of $5.5 million reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.ca. The restricted free agent will earn $22 million total over the course of the deal, per Terry Frei of the Denver Post.
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Signing Barrie is a significant development for Colorado. The right-shot defenseman has been the subject of trade rumors all offseason, as he’s been coveted by multiple teams looking for a steady, capable offensive defenseman. He seemed like a sure goner. The Avalanche managed to lock Barrie up at a below-market cost, as projections had a new deal in the $5.5-6.5 million range. A $5.5 million deal is reasonable and a nice price to pay for a top-pairing defenseman.
The 25-year-old is a standout offensive d-man, posting 53 and 49 points in 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. He didn’t have it easy this season, posting a 44.6 Corsi For, but was shackled to subpar defenders like Nick Holden for a large amount of his even-strength ice time. Barrie excels at puck movement and getting the puck past the neutral zone. Barrie wasn’t sheltered last season, as he had more defensive zone starts (33.2%) than those in the offensive zone (29.5%). He’s never going get accolades for his defensive prowess, but Barrie is passable defensively and above average offensively. It’s an impressive combination.
How does Barrie’s contract compare to other defensemen? Pretty reasonably. Per General Fanager his cap comparisons are Torey Krug (four-year, $21 million), Sami Vatanen (four-year, $19.5 million) and Jared Spurgeon (four-year, $20.75 million). None of those defensemen have the offensive skill Barrie has. Spurgeon also has been gifted the chance to play with Ryan Suter each night. Is he miles ahead of the group? No. But, considering his contract is in the same range as the trio, Colorado did well to get him locked up on a club-friendly deal. Realistically, if Barrie was a UFA you could tack an additional $1 to 1.5 million to each season of his extension.
Colorado’s defense would be poor without Barrie in the fold. His absence would push the team to a top-pair with Francois Beauchemin and Erik Johnson. Behind them, there’s little experience (unless you count old-man Fedor Tyutin), even if Nikita Zadorov may have a promising future and Patrick Wiercioch was a great under-the-radar signing. Keeping Barrie makes the defense look solid, which is quite the benchmark for a team usually at the bottom of the league in most defensive measures.
This isn’t something I write often, but Joe Sakic and the Avalanche organization have done well to keep key players under contract long term. After signing Nathan MacKinnon to a seven-year, $44.1 million deal and Barrie to a $22 million deal this offseason, Colorado has many of its young stars locked up. Matt Duchene is on the books for the next three seasons, at $6 million AAV. Captain Gabriel Landeskog is also locked up to a deal which won’t make him a UFA until 2021. Yes, Ryan O’Reilly was traded as an RFA for an increasingly unpromising return, but four out of five stars isn’t bad. Especially considering none of them are signed to gross deals.
Barrie isn’t a star defenseman per se, but he’s a young, offensive-minded guy, who can play big minutes in a variety of roles. Extending him at a reasonable cost is a savvy move by the Avalanche. Credit given, where credit due.
