Veteran D Barrie hopes to be 'every night player' after signing with Flames

Months after he feared his 809-game NHL career was over, blueliner Tyson Barrie has signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract with the Calgary Flames. 

The 33-year-old was in training camp on a professional tryout after not receiving any offers during the summer, and impressed Flames management over the past three weeks.

“Just had a chat with [Flames head coach Ryan] Huska after practice today and he expressed that he’d like me to stay and that management feels the same way,” he said. 

“I went home and had a chat with my agent and family and then the contract came through.”

Head coach Ryan Huska had telegraphed Barrie’s signing earlier in the day. He was asked about four veterans competing for the third pairing on the back end–Barrie, Brayden Pachal, Jake Bean, and Joel Hanley. 

"If there's certain teams that we wanna have someone that maybe moves the puck a little bit better, then we can make an adjustment," Huska said. 

Barrie’s signing is not a surprise, given his usage in practices and preseason games. 

On Thursday, he was taking reps on the second powerplay unit, and during Monday’s overtime win over Seattle, the righthander played on his off-side. In recent skates, the puckmover was paired with the stay-at-home blueliner Pachal, who has had an excellent camp.

Barrie allowed that the uncertainty of his future wore on him at times, but he’s happy to know that he’ll be in Calgary for the next few months. His contract does not include any no-trade protection. 

“I want to reestablish myself as a good player in this league and an every night player,” he said.

“And hopefully one day, play a thousand games and win a Stanley Cup.”

Barrie is one of the best puck-moving defencemen of his era. 

The Victoria, B.C., native carved out a career with the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, and the Predators as an offence-first blueliner. He notched a career-best 59 points with the Avs in the 2018-19 campaign. Since the 2013-14 campaign, he is seventh among all NHL blueliners in points and ninth in power-play points.

He knows that he needs to improve in certain areas to further prolong his career. 

“Maybe try to get on the PK this year, or be a little more sound defensively in certain areas,” Barrie said. 

“Little things that maybe have been question marks in the past. Just snuff those out and put an end to that.”

Barrie broke in with the Avs and cited former NHLers Ryan O’Byrne, Milan Hejduk, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere as early mentors who taught him how to be a pro. 

Barrie has a reputation as being a popular teammate, and want to pay it forward to the next group of blueliners. Calgary’s prospect pipeline has several offensively-gifted defencemen, including Hunter Brzustewicz, Jeremie Poirier, and Zayne Parekh. 

While Barrie might not be in Calgary the full season, the organization feels he can help those prospects as they get started in their own NHL careers. 

“I think the Flames’ back-end is in a really good spot for the future,” he said.

“They’re just getting started in their NHL journey. I had some great mentors and got a lot of good advice when I was young, so if I have the opportunity to pass any of that along, I’ll definitely take pride in that.”