Insider Reveals Latest on Tyson Barrie Trade Talks
According to a new report on Friday from Insider Pierre LeBrun in The Athletic, if there's a team out there wanting to swing a deal for very-much-available blueliner Tyson Barrie from the Nashville Predators, they'll have to pay full price to do it.
My understanding is that Predators general manager Barry Trotz doesn’t want to retain salary in a Barrie trade, or at least not until much closer to March 8, when that salary is mostly paid. The way around that would be for a trading partner to include a player with a salary. It would have to be someone of interest to Nashville, though — a hockey trade. The Predators don’t want to simply take on another team’s problem contract.
LeBrun notes, however, that as we approach the March 8th trade deadline, that salary retention aspect might not be as important to the Preds.
And while Trotz called out Barrie earlier this week for the disappointing way he handled the first healthy scratch of his career, LeBrun reports that the Preds' GM still wants to do right by the 13-year veteran, indicating it's more about a lack of fit on a crowded Nashville blueline:
Trotz sees Barrie as a good person and popular teammate who played great last season after coming over from the Edmonton Oilers, so this isn’t about moving a problem player...
Trotz wants to do right by Barrie and send him somewhere he can get things going again.
The Predators believe they have eight legitimate NHL-caliber defenseman, and Barrie is the odd man out.
He currently has 10 assists in 23 games, with a minus-5 rating, averaging 18½ minutes a night. He's also played for the Colorado Avalance and Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as the Oilers in his NHL career.
Photo: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
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