The lone try-out player in Calgary Flames camp has been successful in earning a National Hockey League contract, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. Per Seravalli, blueliner Tyson Barrie has signed a one year, $1.65 million contract with the Flames.
Hearing #Flames and Tyson Barrie have agreed to terms on a one-year deal: 1 x $1.25 million.@DailyFaceoff
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 3, 2024
FlamesNation has also confirmed this report. The deal is one-way, all salary (e.g., no signing bonuses) and carries no clauses restricting trades or movement.
Barrie is a 33-year-old right shot defenceman originally from Victoria, British Columbia. He played his junior hockey with the Kelowna Rockets – current Flames head coach Ryan Huska was his head coach for all four seasons – and he followed that up with a pretty impressive professional career.
Drafted in 2009 by Colorado, Barrie has carved out a niche as a really effective offensive blueliner that can play in offensively-skewed five-on-five situations and run one of your team’s power play units. He’s played 809 NHL games across 13 seasons with Colorado, Toronto, Edmonton and Nashville.
After posting 55 points split between Edmonton and Nashville in 2022-23 – flirting with a career high in points – he struggled a bit last season with injuries and inconsistent play, playing just 41 games for the Predators and posting just 15 points. That represented his lowest offensive output since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign.
With the Flames, Barrie projects as a third-pairing defender at five-on-five, but he adds an element of danger to a power play group that was pretty pedestrian over the last couple years – and flat-out lost hockey games because their play with the extra man wasn’t up to snuff.
Barrie’s signing likely locks him into the Flames’ opening night 23-man roster. With him on the books, the Flames have 51 players under NHL deals for this season, but only 47 of them are considered against the 50-deal limit – four of their junior-aged players will see their deals slide this season. They retain a decent amount of contractual and salary cap flexibility, even after this move.
The Flames close out their pre-season on Friday night when they face the Winnipeg Jets.
