BSN Exclusive: Tyson Barrie talks about being in trade rumors - again

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Tyson Barrie has seen his name in trade rumors recently – or, as they spell it here in Canada, “rumours.”

If you think that fazes the Colorado Avalanche defenseman at all, six days before the NHL trade deadline, you weren’t around his talk with BSN Denver about it Tuesday morning.

“It’s been in rumors for years,” Barrie told BSN with a shrug, before that night’s Avs game with the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. “At the trade deadline, you never know what can happen. Even if you feel safe, you never really are.”

Could the Avalanche really trade Barrie, though, with still an outside shot at the playoffs and the team now without top defenseman Erik Johnson indefinitely from an upper-body injury? Wouldn’t that probably be a proverbial white flag already from general manager Joe Sakic on this season?

Well, it depends how you look at it. With Sam Girard likely to blossom as a prime puck-moving defenseman for years and dynamic prospect Cale Makar possibly joining the team as early as next season – along with a presumed return by Johnson – it makes sense that Barrie could become expendable. If Sakic figures realistic hopes for a playoff spot are gone now with Johnson’s injury, he might be in selloff mode before Monday’s deadline. But if there is to be any hope of making it still this season, Barrie’s talents would be needed.

Barrie is the son of a former NHL player (and owner, Len Barrie) and his easygoing nature belies a stone-cold realization that this is all an unsentimental business. Lots of teams could use a proven offensive defenseman for a playoff run, and no doubt Sakic would have plenty of interest if he were to put him on the trade block.

Barrie has been with the Avs since 2011-12 and has really enjoyed being part of a team that has seen a return to respectability again. Outwardly, at least, he doesn’t seem to want to go.

“I think we’ve got a great group of guys in here. We enjoy playing together and I think we’d like to stick together,” said Barrie, 26, who had 31 points in his first 44 games. “Last year, with how poorly everything went, I think everyone was on the block.”

For however long he’s here, Barrie isn’t giving up on the playoffs this year.

“We’ve worked too hard all year to start getting down on ourselves now,” he said. “We still think we’re going to make it and we’re going to do everything we can to get there.”