Tyson Barrie on the move to Canada again?

Defenseman Tyson Barrie might be heading towards a fifth team in his NHL career as trade rumours emerged out of Nashville. He is currently playing the last year of his current deal and slated to become an unrestricted free agent next July, hence where there is a feeling that Barrie could be moved yet again.

At last year’s trade deadline, Barrie was shipped to the Predators by the Edmonton Oilers, where he had signed as a free agent after playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He ended up in Canada after he was moved by the Colorado Avalanche back in July 2019, and now a third trade could be in the works…

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Predators have allowed Barrie and his agent to speak with other clubs about a possible trade since the defenseman essentially requested a trade from Nashville after he was healthy scratch against the New York Rangers on Saturday. The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode even went beyond that, saying that the defenseman had become “somewhat expendable in Nashville,” especially since prospect Spencer Stastney is playing with such promise.

Four clubs have surfaced as potential landing spots for Barrie, per Nashville Hockey Now’s Michael Gallagher, and two of them are former teams of the blue liner. He believes the Oilers and the Maple Leafs could be top suitors for Barrie’s services. He also points to the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.

While a return to Edmonton could make sense for Barrie, the Oilers won’t have the cap space to take on his $4.5-million cap hit. Plus, they much rather focus on a goaltending upgrade…

As for the Maple Leafs, Barrie did not really fit in during his tenure in 2019-20, and Toronto might be focusing its attention on a more defensive-minded blue liner like Calgary Flames’ Chris Tanev. Though it was recently reported that the Leafs had attempted to trade for Tanev and Nikita Zadorov, but the latter ended up moving to the Vancouver Canucks.

Barrie could be a great addition to any of the interested team, especially the Devils would have unfortunately lost Dougie Hamilton indefinitely following surgery for a torn pectoral muscle.

Just last year, Barrie put up a 55-point performance in 2022-23, split between the Oilers and Predators. This now means he has seven 40-plus point seasons under his belt.

There will be some suitors for that kind boost on the back end, the question is will they include the Oilers or the Maple Leafs?

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