Former Oiler Tyson Barrie retires after 14 NHL seasons

Barrie spent parts of three seasons with the Oilers, scoring 25 goals and 132 points in 190 games between 2020-21 and 2022-23. He inked a one-year deal with Edmonton in 2020 and then signed a three-year contract after a successful debut. The right-shot defenceman was the quarterback of a lethal power play, and Barrie’s production for the Oilers was the best of his five stops.

Before the 2023 trade deadline, he was sent in a package that included the 2023 first-round pick, Reid Schaefer, and a 2024 fourth-round pick to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Mattias Ekholm.

After his stint with the Oilers, Barrie’s production waned. He spent two seasons in Tennessee, scoring four goals and 27 points in 65 games, often being used as a seventh defenceman. Before the 2024-25 season, Barrie returned to Alberta after signing a professional tryout with the Calgary Flames. 

The right-shot defenceman turned that deal into a full-time contract, but he played just 13 NHL games, where he had a goal and three points, while playing 11 games in the American Hockey League.

Although Barrie’s career came to an abrupt halt after the Oilers traded him, the bulk of his career and points came with the team that drafted him, the Colorado Avalanche, in the third round of the 2009 draft. Barrie spent parts of eight seasons with the Avalanche, scoring 75 goals and 307 points in 484 games, including his best season of his career, scoring 14 goals and 59 points in 2018-19.

After that season, Barrie was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the deal that sent Nazem Kadri, his future teammate in Calgary, to the Avalanche. In just one season with the Maple Leafs, Barrie scored five goals and 39 points in 70 games. 

At just 34 years old, it’s a rather early retirement for a defenceman who was at his best, a premium offensive defender. His stint with the Oilers was a good one, as he was a part of the power play in 2022-23, where the Oilers put up the best percentage in NHL history.