Confirmed with Link: Oilers Sign Tyson Barrie to a 1-year deal ($3.75M)

[Broberg Speed]

Oh don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up getting a contract done here. He fits perfectly on this team and he knows it.

If someone accused me of the attributes being placed on Tyson Barrie in this thread I would recognize those people as denouncing my character and consider them adverse acquaintances at best.

 

[Broberg Speed]

I don't know what the Oilers cap situation look like but say the team had to choose between re-signing Nuge or re-signing Barrie, who do you sign and why?

I think you have to go with Barrie. The guy is everything this team has been missing on defense all these years. He competely transforms our offense and adds another dimension that makes this team so much more difficult to defend against as teams has to respect his skill, in addition to already worrying about McDrai. We're the highest scoring team in the league for a reason, and it's not because of Nuge.

Would suck to lose RNH but I think losing Barrie would sting even more.

EDIT: Although I guess the argument could be made that we have an internal replacement for Barrie in Bouchard and we have no real replacement for Nuge, although maybe Holloway becomes that guy in time, but he's farther away than Bouchard from being an impact player. Maybe McLeod could fill some of that void but I doubt it.

Barrie every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

We already have two of the top centers in the NHL. A top six winger with some heart and grit replaces RNH. A world class 3rd line center capable of hard checking duties with intestinal fortitude pushes the needle more than retaining RNH. I'm hopeful we have that in house with Holloway.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

If someone accused me of the attributes being placed on Tyson Barrie in this thread I would recognize those people as denouncing my character and consider them adverse acquaintances at best.

I still don’t know what you are going on about. He signed here to boost his numbers for a another contract and that’s obvious. Whether it be here or somewhere else.

I love him as a player and thought him signing here cheap for 1 year was genius. I’m not talking a shot at him or his character at all.

 

[McOilers97]

Just thinking out loud here. I hope I’m not jumping the gun here with Barries performance last night but I would really have to consider moving bear this summer. He’s having a tough go this season but it is expected, I believe he will fully bounce back next season. But I’m saying that I believe he is the odd man out. I would look to move him for a top 6 left winger. Then roll with so like this on the blue line:
Nurse Barrie
Lags Larson
Klef (assuming he returns) bouch
Broberg

I'm in the same place as you on this. If we're looking at who to trade for a forward/goalie upgrade I'm just doing a process of elimination.

Nurse is by far best D on the team, keep at all costs.
Barrie and Larsson ideally should be re-signed if possible.
Lagesson brings so much value on our weaker left side on D with such a cheap cap hit ($725k).
Russell has no real trade value and is ok as #6/7 next year at $1.25m cap hit.
Bouchard still finding his footing but has too rare of a skillset to trade barring an incredible opportunity
Broberg and Samorukov are question marks long-term, but we can wait a few years on them because they both have big upside.
Jones probably gone to Seattle in expansion.
Koekkoek UFA, no trade value, maybe re-sign as a #7 type.

That really leaves Bear, who is kind of a tweener in this lineup. Not really a minute-eater at even-strength, not one of the key offensive D on the team, not showing aptitude as a shutdown guy due to size and skating limitations, but is making $2m and would have some trade value and could maybe slot as #4 on some teams.

I really only see a case for keeping Bear if we lose Barrie. Bouchard/Nurse can take the PP duties if need be. If we lose Larsson, Bear probably shouldn't be filling that role and we should look for someone else to play in that spot.

 

[Oilhawks]

Or he is concentrating on hockey now, and will worry about extension talks later.

Agreed, I also read his surprise as being surprised he was asked that question. I understand Gregor’s enthusiasm but didn’t really seem like the time or place for that. Also not sure how else Barrie could have answered that; “Yes, signing a deal tomorrow”?

 

[Proko88]

I'm in the same place as you on this. If we're looking at who to trade for a forward/goalie upgrade I'm just doing a process of elimination.

Nurse is by far best D on the team, keep at all costs.
Barrie and Larsson ideally should be re-signed if possible.
Lagesson brings so much value on our weaker left side on D with such a cheap cap hit ($725k).
Russell has no real trade value and is ok as #6/7 next year at $1.25m cap hit.
Bouchard still finding his footing but has too rare of a skillset to trade barring an incredible opportunity
Broberg and Samorukov are question marks long-term, but we can wait a few years on them because they both have big upside.
Jones probably gone to Seattle in expansion.
Koekkoek UFA, no trade value, maybe re-sign as a #7 type.

That really leaves Bear, who is kind of a tweener in this lineup. Not really a minute-eater at even-strength, not one of the key offensive D on the team, not showing aptitude as a shutdown guy due to size and skating limitations, but is making $2m and would have some trade value and could maybe slot as #4 on some teams.

I really only see a case for keeping Bear if we lose Barrie. Bouchard/Nurse can take the PP duties if need be. If we lose Larsson, Bear probably shouldn't be filling that role and we should look for someone else to play in that spot.

We have been stockpiling dmen for a few years now. I believe now is the time to deal from a position of strength to fill a weakness- ie. top 6 left wing and a true #1
and possibly a #3 centre.

 

[Magnum23]

I won't blame Barrie if he tries to secure the bag after this season.

Sadly, I can see some team offering him a contract Edmonton can't match.

 

[Broberg Speed]

We have been stockpiling dmen for a few years now. I believe now is the time to deal from a position of strength to fill a weakness- ie. top 6 left wing and a true #1
and possibly a #3 centre.

If done properly it could turn us from a borderline top 10 team into a potential top five team. That's a lot of ground but I know where you're coming from.

I also think Nurse regresses a bit if he doesn't have Barrie as a partner.

 

[CupofOil]

Barrie was something else in the o zone tonight. He’s the main reason I knew this season was going to be different. Give him a reasonable contract offer. Nurse too. Taking into account flat cap.

There won't be anything reasonable about the Nurse contract, he's going to take Holland to the cleaners and rightfully so. We'd be lucky to get him on the Trouba contract (8x8) if he continues on this trajectory. Should have locked him up long term last offseason but nothing can be done about that now. He has all the leverage now.

As far as Barrie concerned, I go 4 years max with him or maaaybe 5 at a lower cap hit. Something like 3x6, 4x5.5 or 5x5.
I'm sure he will aim for the Krug contract and the Oilers simply can't afford to do that. If he wants to be here, he'll have to leave some money on the table. I'm skeptical to be honest, I think he goes for the big bucks elsewhere.

 

[Magnum23]

Long term, I wouldn't be mad if the Oilers kept Barrie, Larsson and Bouchard on the right side.

I like Bear but if Barrie is staying I don't think we need him.

 

[Broberg Speed]

There won't be anything reasonable about the Nurse contract, he's going to take Holland to the cleaners and rightfully so. We'd be lucky to get him on the Trouba contract (8x8) if he continues on this trajectory. Should have locked him up long term last offseason but nothing can be done about that. He has all the leverage now.

As far as Barrie concerned, I go 4 years max with him or maaaybe 5 at a lower cap hit. Something like 3x6, 4x5.5 or 5x5.
I'm sure he will aim for the Krug contract and the Oilers simply can't afford to do that.

Maybe if Nurse doesn't have Barrie as his defensive partner his contract demands go down to something like 7 million for five or six years. Barrie dramatically increases Nurse's value as a player on the ice and his negotiating capacity off the ice.

 

[FlameChampion]

I really hope we re-sign Barrie but the contract really scares me (especially at the numbers hes producing). It seems like he really enjoys the team and his interviews are pretty good. I hope he takes a bit of a discount to play here but judging from his history, I have a hard time believing it. I think he (or his agent) have always been a tough negotiation. Maybe as hes matured, hes willing to sacrifice some money for a good situation. Lets hope. Hes really put up some incredible offense numbers and I think his play rubs off on the other dman to not go full turtle mode.

 

[FlameChampion]

In the interview post game, Barrie was asked if he has had extension discussions with the Oilers. Barrie seemed surprised by the question and then essentially stated that he is not having any conversations with anyone, including his agent, about his next contract.

To me, that sounded like Barrie is going to FA and he will be seeking a big deal. The fact that he admits that he has not had any talks about an extension here speaks volumes.

Holland has pretty much said the same in his presser last week. I think Holland plays some cards close to the vest though. After the playins, I can see why Holland might want to see who shows up for the remainder of the year and playoffs before he commits to them. But I do agree with you, I suspect Barrie will take as much money as he can.

 

[T-Funk]

I don't like the past rumoured contract demands of either player, but RNH needs to take a huge covid discount of 30% and Nurse gets 8 even though it's Barrie that provides him the opportunity to play looser and process better to remove the poor decisions from his game? Good for Nurse, great half season, but that is pricey. Hedman doesn't make 8 AAV. He signed a few years back but the league finances weren't ruined at the time

 

[Snipes45]

It's Barrie's life and his right to do whatever he want, but I think he would be crazy to leave this situation if he is offered 5-6 million. An elite offensive dman is very hard to find. He most likely will not be this good of a fit anywhere else. He gets to play with 2 great players and we should be on the rise.

 

[CycloneSweep]

But two of those RHD are pending UFAs who might not stick around, so maybe hold off on trading anybody until you know what that looks like past July 1 or wtv.

I mean yeah. I'm not talking about moving him right now. I'm saying for the start of next season

 

[Little Fury]

I mean yeah. I'm not talking about moving him right now. I'm saying for the start of next season

I don't see how we keep Barrie and Larsson unless the latter takes a pretty sizeable haircut.

 

[Broberg Speed]

I don't like the past rumoured contract demands of either player, but RNH needs to take a huge covid discount of 30% and Nurse gets 8 even though it's Barrie that provides him the opportunity to play looser and process better to remove the poor decisions from his game? Good for Nurse, great half season, but that is pricey. Hedman doesn't make 8 AAV. He signed a few years back but the league finances weren't ruined at the time

Good points, this team likely only ever accomplishes anything special if players from this day forward are signed to team friendly contracts. It's more important than ever with this cap freeze.

Nurse is doing great but the accolades are thrown out the window if Ethan Bear was back as his full time partner. If Larsson was paired with Nurse what would that look like? Bouchard is a rookie and many of his greatest proponents see his ceiling as a second pairing powerplay quarterback and that's probably years off into the future.

 

[Little Fury]

Good points, this team likely only ever accomplishes anything special if players from this day forward are signed to team friendly contracts. It's more important than ever with this cap freeze.

Nurse is doing great but the accolades are thrown out the window if Ethan Bear was back as his full time partner. If Larsson was paired with Nurse what would that look like? Bouchard is a rookie and many of his greatest proponents see his ceiling as a second pairing powerplay quarterback and that's probably years off into the future.

My hot take is that Bouchard could step into Barrie's role on the #1PP today and it would have no impact on that unit's productivity.

 

[Proko88]

Depending on how and if klef makes his way back to form. I think we have a pretty solid, balanced backend next season and beyond. If Barrie is happy with 5 ish per.
I would like to resign Larson to a 2-3 year contract while Lags gets groomed to replace him as a shutdown dman. I think Bouchard and Broberg are the 2 horses we need to be successful. Samorukov might have to be trade bait along with Bear to fill some other holes.
Also to add, I believe we need to keep some stability on d, and not replace with rookies every year. Sprinkle them in as needed. I hope a taxi squad continues next season cause I think that is the best way to break in rookies

 

[FlameChampion]

Good points, this team likely only ever accomplishes anything special if players from this day forward are signed to team friendly contracts. It's more important than ever with this cap freeze.

Nurse is doing great but the accolades are thrown out the window if Ethan Bear was back as his full time partner. If Larsson was paired with Nurse what would that look like? Bouchard is a rookie and many of his greatest proponents see his ceiling as a second pairing powerplay quarterback and that's probably years off into the future.

Not really sure its fair to claim Nurse is only putting up points because of him playing with Barrie. For example last night, Nurses goal didnt really have anything to do with Barrie. That goal he scored last night, hes scored several goals like that his year. Trailing player who takes a pass from forward and drains it. I do think that Barries offense in general rubs off on the other dman. But I do think that Nurse deserves credit for how hes played this year. Hes been awesome, and this is coming from someone who has probably picked at his warts too much in the past.

 

[T-Funk]

Kassian,Bear for....Debrusk heehee

 

[FlameChampion]

My hot take is that Bouchard could step into Barrie's role on the #1PP today and it would have no impact on that unit's productivity.

I know people talk about Barrie on the PP but I personally dont even see that much chemistry on the PP with him. Hes fine to good on the PP, he puts up points because our PP is good obviously. I think hes better 5 on 5 in the offensive zone personally. So in that sense, I kinda agree, I think the PP would be similar productivity with Bouchard. I honestly just wish both players were playing lol

 

[Broberg Speed]

Not really sure its fair to claim Nurse is only putting up points because of him playing with Barrie. For example last night, Nurses goal didnt really have anything to do with Barrie. That goal he scored last night, hes scored several goals like that his year. Trailing player who takes a pass from forward and drains it. I do think that Barries offense in general rubs off on the other dman. But I do think that Nurse deserves credit for how hes played this year. Hes been awesome, and this is coming from someone who has probably picked at his warts too much in the past.

I never claimed Nurse was a product of Barrie or Barrie was a product of Nurse; only that together they make a fantastic NHL pairing that is worth keeping together.

 

[belair]

But two of those RHD are pending UFAs who might not stick around, so maybe hold off on trading anybody until you know what that looks like past July 1 or wtv.

Holding onto Bear beyond July 1st could end up costing you a Larsson or a Lagesson at expansion. The Oilers need to make some long-term decisions prior to free agency. If their plan is to extend both Barrie and Larsson, moving Bear for a similarly aged F or upgrade in goal is the best course of action when you factor in positional depth.