Tyson Barrie Ready For Next Chapter in Edmonton

When Tyson Barrie was traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Toronto Maple Leafs, he had a feeling something was coming but it still shocked him once the news dropped. Now after an up-and-down season in Toronto the Maple Leafs decided to move in another direction and Barrie is trying to do the same with him fresh start in Edmonton.

The offensive-defenseman was comin off a 59-point season the year before with the Avs, and 57 more back in 2018. After only 39 points in Toronto, Barrie is looking to regain his form that made him one of the elite offensive threats from the back-end in the league.

Recently he spoke to the media regarding his expectations this season:

The year in Toronto may have changed things a bit, and then you throw a pandemic into the mix. It was just kind of a bizarre circumstance. I'd like to get back to the player I was when I left Colorado. It's tougher than you think, moving teams, having a new coach, and all that. I think I have the hang of it now. I've wrapped my head around it. It's not like I'm looking to prove people wrong, but just kind of re-establish myself.

I'd never been off to a start like that: no goals, seven assists in 25 games. Our team was floating around .500, and it just felt like a lot of pressure. You know, more pressure than I'd dealt with in Colorado.

And while there will certainly be pressure in Edmonton, it won't be like what Barrie felt in Toronto, in a year where the coach was fired and the team wasn't performing as planned. The media availability will be drastically different because of the pandemic, which may bode well for a lot of players, including Barrie.

Oilers fans are hoping Barrie can turn back the clock to what they were used to seeing him do in the western conference. 

Photo credit:  Gerry Angus/Icon Sportswire