Hounsy wrote:
Dermott and Barrie have been playing together and it is scary to watch with them on the ice as a Leaf fan. Dermott isn't horrible defensively but he is far from good enough to be the guy to cover up for the defensive mess that is Barrie. Who was his partners in Colorado? He is just too big of a hand grenade to fit with the Leafs as they just don't have the match to off set him.
Sorry...kinda long-winded answer forthcoming.
It's funny because Barrie got saddled with some truly horrendous defensive partners over the course of his tenure in Denver, I was really thinking after the trade that he'd finally get some decent partners who'd really let him loose. In hindsight...maybe those other guys were better than I thought, or Barrie's defensive game has regressed even more than where it was.
I cannot for the life of me remember who he was with his 1st full season, but following that he was with Nate "The General" Guenin, who was simply not an NHL-caliber defenseman. Following that, it was Nick Holden, who was serviceable at the time for a season or two, but I was never a fan.
And we'll just skip over 2016-17. That season doesn't count, and it doesn't matter who was partnered with whom on defense.
The next season, he was mostly with Patrik Nemeth, and then in his final season, he and Nikita Zadorov were used as a top pairing when Erik Johnson went down with his annual injury, and it stayed that way for the most part going into the playoffs. Both Nemeth and Zadorov have their fundamental issues but I think those two were by far the best guys he's ever had alongside him.
I'll say this: Maybe Barrie wasn't as good a fit with the Leafs as we all thought. I thought it'd be a match made in heaven, but now I'm rethinking that. Dermott's own struggles may indicate that he's simply not as good as the Leafs (and others) projected him to be, or that offseason surgery is simply going to take a full year to recover from fully. Also, for all the great things he does, Morgan Rielly is not an ideal #1 defenseman. There are some huge flaws in his game that, in some ways, are actually worse than Barrie's. Some of the worst gap control I've ever seen in an NHL defenseman.
Ironically, Barrie would probably be thriving in Colorado right now. Their defensive numbers are worlds better than they've been in years' past, but they really haven't made any huge improvements on the blueline. In fact, one could argue that they're worse given that Ian Cole and Erik Johnson are moving with the grace and speed of wounded snails. What changed is up front--the Avs have essentially stockpiled savvy two-way and defensive forwards, and it's made a huge impact on the team's overall defensive game. Meanwhile, I'd argue that Toronto doesn't have nearly enough of those, especially when you consider that the "Big Three" of Matthews, Nylander, and Marner are abominable when it comes to defense. It can't just be Hyman, Mikheyev, and Kerfoot. You need more. I guess Clifford will help in that regard at least.
Lastly...y'know what is the best panacea for a shitty defenseman? Good goaltending! A shame it took the Leafs over half a season to finally find one to partner with Freddy.
Anyway...tl;dr:
Barrie had some pretty awful defensive partners in CO but maybe not as bad as I thought. Dermott might be a little overrated, but the Leafs for sure could use some better defensive presence at all positions, including in between ye olde pipes.