New defensemen for Nashville Predators bringing very different results
Reviewing Tyson Barrie and Cal Foote’s first few games with the Preds
The Nashville Predators made several significant changes ahead of the NHL's trade deadline a week ago.
Of course, the biggest one was announcing Barry Trotz as David Poile's successor in the general manager role. But on the ice, they also changed things up in a major way, trading away Mattias Ekholm, Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, and Tanner Jeannot, and acquiring a truckload of draft picks and players.
The two biggest names in the group of players acquired were defensemen Tyson Barrie and Cal Foote. How have things gone with the two new blueliners?
Tyson Barrie
Tyson Barrie arrived in Nashville as a seasoned veteran. Leaving the high powered Edmonton Oilers offense, you might assume his offensive skills would be less effective in the Nashville Predators' largely anemic offense.
But overall, Barrie has been quite helpful for the Preds' attack.
According to Natural Stat Trick, through four games, Barrie has skated nearly 70 minutes at five on five for the Preds. With him on the ice, the Preds have generated 4.41 expected goals, which ranks 2nd on the team among defensemen in that span, slightly higher than Roman Josi's 4.36 expected goals for. Barrie also scored a goal in the Preds' 3-1 win over Chicago.
Barrie's pucks skills, passing ability, and knack for getting shots through to the net (he has nine shots on net in four games, which is 2nd most among Preds' blueliners since Feb 28th) have helped account for the loss of Mattias Ekholm, who was a staple of the Preds' offensive defense for many years.
In the defensive end, Barrie has been ok, not great. With him on the ice, the team has allowed 4.46 expected goals and four actual goals. The Preds' defense is still not very good right now, and Barrie has not improved that in any significant way.
Overall, Tyson Barrie has been a solid addition to the Preds' blueline, especially as it pertains to creating offense.
Cal Foote
If Tyson Barrie has been a welcomed addition to the Nashville Predators' defense corps, Cal Foote has been the opposite.
Through four games, Foote does not seem to do many things well for the blueline. He is slow to make decisions and slow to execute actions based on those decisions. His skating is subpar. His passing and puck skills are just not NHL ready.
Foote has had several moments in his own zone that have led to disastrous outcomes. Flubbed passes, misplays, and poor clearances on nearly every shift. He's allowed multiple giveaways to dangerous players. His expected goals allowed are deceiving because he's only played 49 minutes, but his rate of allowing scoring opportunities is not promising.
All of this is compounded by his lack of offensive ability. Through four games, he's managed only seven shot attempts and five shots on goal. His expected goal output is just 0.06. He's also committed a couple of bad penalties.
Nothing is going right for Foote, but it's not just bad luck. This just seems to be who he is right now.
Cal Foote is potentially a project for the future. If he can get some work in Milwaukee next year, he has good enough size to be a solid defense-first third pairing option. But right now, Foote is not an NHL defenseman.
Preds blueline future uncertain
The defense corps of the future for the Nashville Predators is still a work in progress. Roman Josi will be around until 2028, Ryan McDonagh until 2026. After that it gets murky.
Dante Fabbro just signed a one year extension, so he will be in Nashville next year. But Alex Carrier, who has battled injuries this season, seems like the better option for a long term contract. Jeremy Lauzon is on a cheap contract until 2026, but is at best a third pairing guy.
Tyson Barrie is only signed through next season, and it seems unlikely the Preds would want to sign him up long term after that. Cal Foote should not be an option long term, unless he sees significant progress in the next year or two.
It's possible that the real future of the Preds' defense is either in Milwaukee (Jack Matier, Luke Prokop, and Jordan Gross are promising) or playing in college or junior hockey (Ryan Ufko has had a great season for UMass). The Preds also have many draft picks for 2023 and beyond that they could use on defensemen, which I would expect them to do.
— Featured image via Matt Marton/USA TODAY Sports —
