With no hockey games to discuss for the next few days, I thought it would be a great time to take a step back and discuss some points that are difficult to fit in during this constrained schedule.

Should Edmonton extend Tyson Barrie? It's one of those topics that has vocal proponents on both sides.

One side will be quick to point out the fact that he is currently #2 among all defensemen in scoring with 30 points in 34 games while the other side will criticize him for defensive issues in his own end. So let's break down Tyson Barrie's season in Edmonton and figure out what the organization's long-term future (if any) should be.

Tyson Barrie started out slow, as did the rest of the team, with only two assists in his first 8 games but has since exploded with 28 points in 26 games, playing at above a ppg pace. Of his total boxcars 4-26-30, 2-14-16 have come at EV while 2-12-14 have come on the PP.

Since it has long been discussed as his bread and butter let's dig more into the powerplay. Barrie is an absolute force on the powerplay and brings the shoot first mentality from the backend that has long been missing from the Edmonton Oilers roster. Barrie leads all defensemen in the NHL with shots on goal with 98 which is 15 more shots than Darnell Nurse who sits 6th among all defenders.

To stress how good Barrie has been on the PP this year, we need to compare him to the Oilers previous PP defenseman in Oscar Klefbom. Last season the Oilers had a dominant PP that sat at the top of the league and Klef was a big part of that. Through 62 games played and 226 minutes at 5 on 4, Klefbom produced 2 goals and 16 assists. 5 of those assists were primary assists.

In 34 games this year, Barrie has played 132 minutes on the PP and is already close to those numbers with 2 goals and 12 assists and 5 of those have been primary assists. Barring injury Barrie should blow those numbers out of the water. Whereas Klefbom was a more cerebral passer on the PP, Barrie leads with his shot and has collected assists on the chaos that ensues after that.

At even strength the Nurse-Barrie pairing has been the most effective duo at producing and limiting scoring chances against. Barrie has been on the ice for 36 goals for and 28 goals against (Nurse has been on for 49GF and 34GA).

To summarize, Barrie is an excellent offensive contributor on the PP and at even strength the duo of Barrie and Nurse have played big minutes while coming out on top in terms of scoring chances and goals. What are the issues then?

A big part of it is The McDavid Effect which has burned Edmonton in the past when looking to sign players. In the 307 minutes that Tyson Barrie has been on the ice with Connor McDavid, the Oilers post a CF% of 53.94% and a GF% of 60.53% (23-15). In the 279 minutes Barrie has been on the ice away from McDavid the Oilers post a 46.36CF% and a GF% of 50 (13-13).

Of course another problem is the defensive mistakes. Barrie is a player who skates extremely well and walks tall in the offensive end but he does get caught chasing in his own end and in attempts to make a big play to send the puck out, he has been guilty of throwing easily intercepted bombs. Those aren't things you want to see from a guy averaging over 20 minutes a night.

Barrie is far from a perfect player but I think Holland should be looking to extend Barrie providing the two parties can come to a reasonable deal. For the simple reason that he is right now the Oilers best right shot defenseman.

"But Sean what about Evan Bouchard? Keeping Barrie means that Bouchard won't be on the top powerplay!" Yes disembodied voice that is likely what that means but you so quickly forget that Edmonton once traded Jordan Eberle because they thought they had replacements in the likes of Jesse Puljujarvi and Anton Slepyshev and that did not turn out great.

Bouchard has shown promise in the games he has played this season and I would be lying if I said I wasn't dissapointed that we haven't seen more of him but there is no guarantee yet that Bouchard can fill in and take on the minutes and responsibilities that Barrie currently holds. We have seen with Ethan Bear this season that defensemen don't develop in a straight line. Bear has struggled and that doesn't mean he is a bad player or can't improve. It's the nature of young defensemen. I can't think of many better mentors for Bouchard to learn how to be an elite offensive producer on the backend than Tyson Barrie.

Without Barrie the Edmonton Oilers right side is once again looking pretty green and it gets even worse if you remove Adam Larsson who is also set to be a UFA this off-season. Looking at free agency there are not many other names that jump out on the right side to fill in the holes (I am not including Dougie Hamilton as I expect him to return with the Canes).

I think the most ideal scenario would be if Edmonton can extend Barrie to a two year deal with a number that starts with a 5 but I could live with an additional year. This would allow young players like Bear, Bouchard, and maybe even the recently signed Kesselring to emerge and eventually replace Barrie. For the first time in a long time the Oilers have depth on the backend and if they are not careful they could quickly be back to a situation where they are one injury away from disaster.

Thanks for reading.

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