Confirmed with Link: Avs re-sign Barberio

[Foppa2118]

There should be plenty of competition on the blueline so that's good. EJ, Barrie, Zadorov, and Girard are locks. Carlson or another D might be added for a fifth guy, and Nemeth should be in the top 6 as well.

After that group, Barberio, Lindholm, Alt, Timmins, Meloche, and possibly Siemens should be the guys competing with one another for the final 2-3 spots in the #6-8 roles. Depending on whether or not they add a defenseman via UFA or trade this summer.

 

[Ararana]

Joe isn't wasting any time this offseason. I'm happy with it. Barbs is one of my guilty pleasures, with that beard he just looks so damn good in an Avs jersey. #nohomo

Also noticing this is the first summer signing that had a Sakic quote on it.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

1.45 is fine, hopefully they expect him to be a bottom pairing or #7 guy.

 

[The Pwnerer]

Interesting, I thought for sure they were going to look for a upgrade over him. Hopefully he sticks as our 7th, I want a surefire top 4 guy to add. He seems very well liked by teammates so I can see why we kept him.

I keep tricking myself into thinking we are going to make a bid for Carlson since we were after Shattenkirk last year. Im not sure if this will take us out of it. I think our top 4 is pretty set but it wouldn't be a bad idea to look for an upgrade.

Zadorov-Barrie
Girard-Johnson

Nemeth-Barberio-Alt etc.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Perfectly fine. Good bottom pairing dman with some offense. Only 27 years old.

 

[cgf]

Dont love it but also dont hate it I guess.


I really hope they dont plan on standing pat with the Defense next season, but it kind of looks like that's what they might be heading towards. Gonna have to hope Girard takes a big step next year and that Nemeth wasn't just a flash in the pan last season and can bring some consistency to his game as well.

I think it's more them feeling confident in Meloche or Timmins being ready to claim an NHL gig by the end of next season even if they don't bring someone in. Nemo & Barbie were competent third pairing guys for us, and that's all we need them to be next season...as long as EJ doesn't go down in the first month or two of the season, before one of Meloche/Timmins is ready to be called up.

Plus with that kind of AAV, we can platoon Barbie on the third pairing with Nemo if we do sign a CDH or Hickey.

 

[Joe Sakic]

Hated it when I heard about it mostly because Barberio was an absolute train wreck in the playoffs, but if our bottom pairing is Nemeth - Barberio I don't mind it.

Was hoping Timmins might be given a crack at the NHL squad this year and the more 1-ways we sign the less likely it becomes. If I recall correctly he was one of the last cuts from training camp last year.

It's actually amazing how much better our D core is looking compared to just 2 years ago.

 

[Vaslof]

Good signing. We finally have D depth, glad that they are keeping the gang together.

 

[member 116861]

Solid deal, good for Barberio and the Avs.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Well done, Barbie Dream House. Nice 3rd pairing with Nemeth.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Not a fan of multi-year deals on depth players that aren't ideal depth players. Barbs is good enough, but he's not someone I'd keep around for 2 years on the 3rd pairing. If someone better doesn't come along I'd be surprised.

Feels like keeping Cliche around for instance.

Hopefully the Avs have shown that they're not worried about waiving these guys to the minors (e.g. Colborne) and Barbs is just a good insurance policy. Similar to Alt.

 

[Pokecheque]

Not a fan of multi-year deals on depth players that aren't ideal depth players. Barbs is good enough, but he's not someone I'd keep around for 2 years on the 3rd pairing. If someone better doesn't come along I'd be surprised.

Feels like keeping Cliche around for instance.

Hopefully the Avs have shown that they're not worried about waiving these guys to the minors (e.g. Colborne) and Barbs is just a good insurance policy. Similar to Alt.

To be fair, they clearly intended to bring Cliche back at the 13th forward that season, then newly-signed Jesse Winchester got concussed in a preseason game and never took to the ice ever again. That was still an egregiously bad 4th line they iced, however, even if Winchester had somehow made it back in.

Whenever I think of a fringe guy they kept around too long I think more about Brett Clark. Mind you, they signed him to a two-year deal after he had established himself and he was quite good. It was when they signed him for two MORE years that he more or less imploded. I think the same when the Avs handed out those "Sherman Special" three-year deals to anyone who wanted one in 2014. There was no reason to do so at the time, and every single one of those contracts ended up being a mistake. Before that it was Shane O'Brien who somehow parlayed better-than-average play into enough money to go to the strip club five days a week. Flipping him and the corpse of David Jones for Sarich (who was kind of a corpse by then as well but whatever) and Tanguay remains one of Sakic's savviest moves.

 

[OwenNolan]

Zadorov-Barrie
Girard-Johnson
Nemeth - Barberio

There are alot worse groups in the league. We just need Johnson and Barrie to stay healthy.

 

[Bender]

Hated it when I heard about it mostly because Barberio was an absolute train wreck in the playoffs, but if our bottom pairing is Nemeth - Barberio I don't mind it.

Was hoping Timmins might be given a crack at the NHL squad this year and the more 1-ways we sign the less likely it becomes. If I recall correctly he was one of the last cuts from training camp last year.

It's actually amazing how much better our D core is looking compared to just 2 years ago.

Not a fan of multi-year deals on depth players that aren't ideal depth players. Barbs is good enough, but he's not someone I'd keep around for 2 years on the 3rd pairing. If someone better doesn't come along I'd be surprised.

Feels like keeping Cliche around for instance.

Hopefully the Avs have shown that they're not worried about waiving these guys to the minors (e.g. Colborne) and Barbs is just a good insurance policy. Similar to Alt.

Maybe I'm more optimistic than most but I'm not seeing this signing this way. I don't think that a $1.45M per year contract automatically equates to a locked-down spot on the 3rd pairing. In my mind, he's a depth defender and a #7 guy who can fill-in for injuries.

We've just seen how injuries can force you to dig into your depth and when that depth consists of AHL journeymen (Warsofsky) it's hard to come out on top. In my mind, the Avs are building their depth by having a guy like Barberio as their 7th NHL d-man. Mark Alt's newest contract suggests he may very well be the captain of the Eagles as well as a call-up depending on how it shakes out.

I don't think this limits Timmins ability to make the team. If he's good enough, he'll be there and Barbs will sit. If it's a toss-up, Timmins will play for the Eagles next year.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Joe isn't wasting any time this offseason. I'm happy with it. Barbs is one of my guilty pleasures, with that beard he just looks so damn good in an Avs jersey. #nohomo

Also noticing this is the first summer signing that had a Sakic quote on it.

Joe just needs to extend Z and Rants asap and ill be very pleased.

 

[Tweaky]

Are people really that much more in love with Hickey than Barbs? I get that he does produce a bit more (1.2 PP60 vs. 1.0), but he is significantly higher event as well, with 5.5 G/60 (for and against) compared to Barbs 4.4 G/60. Barbs also has better even strength CF% (48.9 vs. 47.7) and CFRel% (1.1 vs. 0.4). Both play roughly the same TOI/Gm shorthanded (Hickey at 2.28 vs. 2.1 for Barbs), with Barbs showing much better goals per 60 (5.0 vs. 8.4), but some of that is due to goaltending. Neither got much PP time, with both on ice for 1 goal for, but Hickey also had a SHG against in his 5.6min.

And aside from the numbers, the eye test does not show Hickey to be that much better than Barbs. A bit better, even though it can be high event hockey at times. But not at least double the price better. Think about that. Barbs just signed a two year deal for $2.9M total. Hickey made $3.1M last year. Not seeing it.

 

[henchman21]

The stats really don't tell the full story (if they did Zach Redmond would be a top 4D in the NHL)... Hickey is a much better and more reliable puck mover, and he is pretty well proven as a NHL player with over 400 games and being around 18 minutes for most of them. Barberio is a fine bottom pairing guy that you never want playing up. Hickey is a very good bottom pairing guy that can give you spot duty in the top 4. You don't want him as your regular top 4, but in a 5-10-15 game stint he can perform quite well.

 

[Balthazar]

Not a fan of multi-year deals on depth players that aren't ideal depth players. Barbs is good enough, but he's not someone I'd keep around for 2 years on the 3rd pairing. If someone better doesn't come along I'd be surprised.

You shouldn't care about that, we won't need his cap space. If he's not good enough trade him, waive him or send him down to the AHL. It's 1.45M.

 

[Tweaky]

The stats really don't tell the full story (if they did Zach Redmond would be a top 4D in the NHL)... Hickey is a much better and more reliable puck mover, and he is pretty well proven as a NHL player with over 400 games and being around 18 minutes for most of them. Barberio is a fine bottom pairing guy that you never want playing up. Hickey is a very good bottom pairing guy that can give you spot duty in the top 4. You don't want him as your regular top 4, but in a 5-10-15 game stint he can perform quite well.

Oh I agree. But is he worth more than double the salary? For this club where he would be 4th on the LD depth chart, behind Peacock, Samwise and the Iceman? Of course, that assumes they are resigning Nemeth...which I fully expect, at around $2M. Nemeth is not the puck mover Hickey is, but he is much more reliable defensively, which could be important if we end up with a rookie in the #3RD slot (though I will say that Hickey seems to pair better with Meloche style-wise, whereas Nemeth is better with Timmins). And Nemeth is 3 years younger, and RFA rather than UFA.

If they don't re-up on Nemeth, then Hickey makes much more sense. With Barbs being the #7 that can play both sides. Or even sign both, block the rookies, have Zads-EJ, Nemeth-Barrie, and Hickey-Girard as the 3rd pairing you want to shelter, and Barbs filling in as needed.

 

[Freudian]

He's not a complete disaster playing 20+ minutes if you get a couple of injuries.

 

[Patagonia]

Good depth signing, although not impressed with his play. The 2 years should be enough time for Meloche, Timmins or Makar to reach the NHL and offers another player to expose in the Expansion Draft.

 

[henchman21]

Oh I agree. But is he worth more than double the salary? For this club where he would be 4th on the LD depth chart, behind Peacock, Samwise and the Iceman? Of course, that assumes they are resigning Nemeth...which I fully expect, at around $2M. Nemeth is not the puck mover Hickey is, but he is much more reliable defensively, which could be important if we end up with a rookie in the #3RD slot (though I will say that Hickey seems to pair better with Meloche style-wise, whereas Nemeth is better with Timmins). And Nemeth is 3 years younger, and RFA rather than UFA.

If they don't re-up on Nemeth, then Hickey makes much more sense. With Barbs being the #7 that can play both sides. Or even sign both, block the rookies, have Zads-EJ, Nemeth-Barrie, and Hickey-Girard as the 3rd pairing you want to shelter, and Barbs filling in as needed.

I think with this signing, the Avs wouldn't even look at Hickey, but I'd say Hickey's ~25 points and versatility are worth double Barbie. Hickey can play in any situation and be passible, and play a top 4 role when needed. That is a good player to have as your #5.

 

[Tweaky]

If he was just double Barbs salary, then I would be OK with it. But more than double? He made $3.1M last year, and with UFA tax, I expect him to be above $3.5M on this contract, and likely for more than 2 years.

I would be more inclined to try for CDH in that role for that money. Basically the same player, but a bit bigger, and a couple years younger. But both of them remind me too much of Holden.

John Moore is another one in that range that might be worth a look as well. But I have not watched NJD much, so cannot comment on the eye test for him. Will have to look into him.

 

[the_fan]

Hated it when I heard about it mostly because Barberio was an absolute train wreck in the playoffs, but if our bottom pairing is Nemeth - Barberio I don't mind it.

Was hoping Timmins might be given a crack at the NHL squad this year and the more 1-ways we sign the less likely it becomes. If I recall correctly he was one of the last cuts from training camp last year.

It's actually amazing how much better our D core is looking compared to just 2 years ago.

Watching the playoffs, there are so many d-men who are train wrecks and every team has a few. Even top 4 d-men for the teams in the playoffs are making mistakes after mistakes.

 

[MarkT]

If he was just double Barbs salary, then I would be OK with it. But more than double? He made $3.1M last year, and with UFA tax, I expect him to be above $3.5M on this contract, and likely for more than 2 years.

I would be more inclined to try for CDH in that role for that money. Basically the same player, but a bit bigger, and a couple years younger. But both of them remind me too much of Holden.

John Moore is another one in that range that might be worth a look as well. But I have not watched NJD much, so cannot comment on the eye test for him. Will have to look into him.

I was on the John Moore train as well... until I looked at what Devil's fans were saying about him. Apparently he's the kind of guy you can rely on to make at least one boneheaded play in his own zone per game. They are perfectly happy to see him leave in free agency. Also with Lou Lamoriello with the Islanders now, I don't think you can necessarily count on any of their free agents actually hitting the market.