LOS ANGELES — Avalanche ice-time leader Tyson Barrie had a minus-2 rating Tuesday at Anaheim and entered Wednesday’s game against the Kings with a minus-25, worst among the NHL’s 802 players. Make no mistake, the skilled undersized defenseman has been a detriment to the league’s worst team at even strength.
That doesn’t mean he is not a good player. It means Barrie is not being used to his strength as a depth defenseman/power-play specialist — primarily because of the long-term injury to Erik Johnson and also because of Colorado’s poor depth on the blue line.