Written by Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell)
The Colorado Avalanche’s biggest priority this off-season should be to upgrade their defense.
Over the last three seasons only the Buffalo Sabres, who put forth a tank job for the ages in 2014-15, have allowed more shot attempts than the Avalanche.
In that same span the Toronto Maple Leafs, who just put the finishing touches on a nice tank job of their own, are the only team to allow more scoring chances than the Avs.
One would think the Avs improve by adding to their blue line, but they apparently have other ideas, like trading their best defenseman in Tyson Barrie.
Barrie’s contract status plays a role here – he surely wants more than the Avs want to pay – but trading him is a bad idea.
Since 2013-14 the Avalanche have controlled a larger share of shot attempts, scoring chances and goals with Barrie on the ice at 5 v 5. They’re unquestionably a much better team with him than without him.
Beyond Barrie’s solid underlying numbers (relative to the team, anyway), he has also produced at an elite rate.
Over the last three seasons Barrie is tied for 8th in goals (38) and tied for 11th in points (140) among defensemen.
In that same span Barrie ranks 6th in points per 60 minutes of 5 v 5 play. The only five ahead of him? Brent Burns, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Dustin Byfuglien and Mark Giordano. That’s ridiculously good company to be keeping.
At 24 years of age Barrie has already developed into one of the best offensive blue liners in the NHL and there’s nothing to suggest he’ll slow down anytime soon.
Trading a guy like Barrie – especially when the Avs are already thin on the back end – doesn’t seem like the best idea.
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When thinking about the top pending unrestricted free agents the likes of Steven Stamkos, Kyle Okposo and Milan Lucic come to mind.
One guy that has sort of flown under the radar is Jiri Hudler, who is expected to hit the open market.
Hudler isn’t a big name like those mentioned above, but he’s proven to be an elite point producer at 5 v 5 and would help any team looking for offense.
Over the last three years Hudler has averaged 2.19 points per 60 minutes of 5 v 5 play. That’s good for 16th in the entire NHL and ranks him ahead of Johnny Gaudreau, Anze Kopitar and Nikita Kucherov, among many others.
Fascinatingly enough, Hudler has been a more efficient 5 v 5 scorer than all of the top (potential) free agents like Stamkos, Okposo, Lucic and Loui Eriksson, among others.
At 32 his best days are behind him, but over the last few years he’s proven to still be more than capable of producing at evens. There’s no reason that can’t continue a little while longer and, given his ask will be much lower than the big names in dollars and term, he seems like a player worth pursuing.
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Hudler isn’t the only notable player the Florida Panthers will lose this summer as Brian Campbell is also expected to test the open market.
At 36 years of age Campbell’s best days are behind him, however, he is still a very effective defenseman, as evident by his underlying numbers over the last two seasons.
As you can see the Panthers have controlled a much larger percentage of the shot attempts, scoring chances and goals with Campbell on the ice as opposed to the bench.
Sure, Campbell’s primary defense partner was Aaron Ekblad, but Campbell’s numbers away from Ekblad are better than the latter’s away from Campbell.
He may not put up points like he used to, but he’s still very good and is a guy the Panthers will certainly miss if and when he leaves.
Note: numbers via Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com, War-On-Ice.com, and Hockey-Reference.com.