Tyson Barrie is our best player

[RoyIsALegend]

Tyson Barrie, game in and game out, is the most influential player(skater) for the Colorado Avalanche. He is the most noticeable, creates the most offense, and is the most dynamic player we have. He has more of an impact on games than Duchene and MacKinnon.

Refute my statements.

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[Foppa2118]

Tyson has been very good, but it's not game in and game out. He still has down games to go with his ups.

IMO Duchene and Varly are a clear step ahead of him in terms of the teams best player. As is EJ in terms of importance among D men.

 

[The Shermanator]

I'm not sure you can say EJ is more important than Barrie. I don't know the stats but I think we've struggled way more with Barrie out of the line up than EJ. EJ being injured right now honestly isn't that big of a deal imo.

 

[Freudian]

I think Duchene has been better this year. Barrie just needs a bit more consistency. Defense is slowly coming along where he can handle bigger guys and as you all know I believe puck retrieval is a very important part of defense and there Barrie is excellent.

 

[ASmileyFace]

Recently.... he absolutely has been.

Makes me super scared of the kind of deal he is going to demand. And he will probably deserve every penny.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'm not sure you can say EJ is more important than Barrie. I don't know the stats but I think we've struggled way more with Barrie out of the line up than EJ. EJ being injured right now honestly isn't that big of a deal imo.

I don't think that sample size would be big enough to really make that comparison. There's a reason Barrie called EJ their number one D man. Tyson's a great player, and both are tough to replace, but over the long haul of a season, and especially the playoffs where it really matters, EJ is more important to this team, the same way he's more important than Shattenkirk.

 

[henchman21]

I'd say Barrie is the best offensive player on the team. Landy is the best overall skater (puts up points, physical presence, leads, and plays good defense). Varly is the best player.

Barrie's big issue is that he isn't great defensively... he is solid enough right now, but he needs to take another step or two in that area so he can start getting 25-26 minutes a night consistently. If he does that, I think he will be our best defensemen overall.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Barrie thrives more facing the 2nd best competition. With EJ out, Barrie is playing well...just not as good as he does when EJ is out there.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I don't know about best player, but I think it's time to put to rest the idea that he's average at best defensively. I think he's made some great strides in that area of his game.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Barrie thrives more facing the 2nd best competition. With EJ out, Barrie is playing well...just not as good as he does when EJ is out there.

I think he plays even better when EJ is out, but to each their own. Barrie takes the reigns of the team and dominates.

I honestly think the only D who controls a game like Tyson does is Karlsson. All the other guys move the puck and rely on teammates more. Doughty does it a fair bit as well, but Tyson regularly skates the puck out of our zone, joins the rush, and is getting prime scoring chances.

When I watch him in our zone, I want to write a book about it and call it The Great Escape. The way he gets low, hugs the boards, avoids the checker, and keeps possession(sometimes with one hand on the stick and the other hand pushing the guy off, so sick) is uncanny. He's an absolutely elite, premier defenseman in today's NHL.

 

[Foppa2118]

I don't know about best player, but I think it's time to put to rest the idea that he's average at best defensively. I think he's made some great strides in that area of his game.

I think he's still average, he just knows how to limit his deficiencies more than he did in the past, and the team as a whole is better at getting the puck out of the zone. When he has to spend half or more of a shift in his own zone, it's pretty clear he isn't the best with his coverage.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Barrie will never be able to go toe-to-toe with the league's top-lines, especially in the west where guys like EJ, Beauch and Zads will excel because of their size.

He's still amazing offensively. They need to keep him. No matter the cost.

 

[AvalancheFan19]

I think he plays even better when EJ is out, but to each their own. Barrie takes the reigns of the team and dominates.

I honestly think the only D who controls a game like Tyson does is Karlsson. All the other guys move the puck and rely on teammates more. Doughty does it a fair bit as well, but Tyson regularly skates the puck out of our zone, joins the rush, and is getting prime scoring chances.

When I watch him in our zone, I want to write a book about it and call it The Great Escape. The way he gets low, hugs the boards, avoids the checker, and keeps possession(sometimes with one hand on the stick and the other hand pushing the guy off, so sick) is uncanny. He's an absolutely elite, premier defenseman in today's NHL.

I'm one of the individuals who think that a D's primary concern is to play defence. So when Doughty and Keith make those passes to their teammates this allows them to remain at their position. I love when Barrie rushes the puck up, but long stretch passes and a great breakout pass are a thing of beauty too. He's improved a lot and lately has been playing lights out, guys a stud. I hope we're able to keep him for a reasonable price.

 

[Avsboy]

Too small

 

[ASmileyFace]

Too small

Roy...? Is that you?

 

[The Kingslayer]

Barrie goin to demand that PK money

 

[tigervixxxen]

Barrie deserves credit for stepping up his game and taking the heavy minutes with EJ out. There's still things I'd like to see in his game before considering him our best player though.

 

[Ivan13]

I don't know about best player, but I think it's time to put to rest the idea that he's average at best defensively. I think he's made some great strides in that area of his game.

As Freudin says puck retrieval is of utmost importance and Tyson is always first on the puck and pushes the play the right way, he will never be able to handle those huge forwards down low, but that doesn't diminish his value all that much in my eyes, he is a terrific hockey player, what's even more impressive is that he managed all this without someone holding his hand, Holden has been OK this season, but he sure isn't close to the level of Methot, Alzner, or Markov.

Oh and this:

 

[ArWKo]

I don't know about best - but most important, maybe.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Good player.
Hope his contract demands are reasonable, and that we can keep him.

 

[xxxx]

Do you think he's close to the elite level of a player like Letang or Brodie?

 

[Former Ladder]

I think he stands out so much now with his poise and confidence along with the fact that he has been our best skater on the back end for a while now. With Bigras and maybe Zads coming up, our younger guys will start to fill in the gaps on the other pairings with their puck movement and skating ability.

 

[S E P H]

I'm not sure you can say EJ is more important than Barrie. I don't know the stats but I think we've struggled way more with Barrie out of the line up than EJ. EJ being injured right now honestly isn't that big of a deal imo.

We've lost the 3 of the last 5 games and in that span we've been outscored 13 to 9 playing both good and horrible teams. That's naivety to think of this IMO, this team is easily missing EJ as he brings an element Tyson doesn't possess (while Barrie brings one EJ doesn't have). Barrie is a very important part to this club, but he isn't the best player. This has nothing to do with EJ versus Barrie either, Avs normally win when Varlamov doesn't let in a deflating goal.

As Freudin says puck retrieval is of utmost importance and Tyson is always first on the puck and pushes the play the right way, he will never be able to handle those huge forwards down low, but that doesn't diminish his value all that much in my eyes, he is a terrific hockey player, what's even more impressive is that he managed all this without someone holding his hand, Holden has been OK this season, but he sure isn't close to the level of Methot, Alzner, or Markov.

Holden has been just OK? Seriously? I agree that he's not at the level of Methot, Alzner, or Markov, but Holden has been consistently above-average for the whole season. He's always going to have some of those brain fart games, but he's been an unsung hero this year. He's getting used to NHL speed, putting his stick in normally good defensive positioning now, and plays physical around the net. And as a UFA, he's been a good find.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Do you think he's close to the elite level of a player like Letang or Brodie?

letang yes, brodie no.

 

[cgf]

Now imagine if he learns to run a PP and/or pass...terrifying. Love watching him play; but I also love that we have EJ to, as well as partners for both.