Tyson Barrie is one of the more confusing players in the NHL to evaluate. I’ve found that the differing opinions on him largely come down to how we measure performance at the defence position in 2019. With some of the newer metrics out there (and a lot of them disagreeing on Barrie), it’s hard to know what to believe if you’re a nerdy Leafs fan like myself trying to get a read on his impact.



My goal is to help demystify some of that confusion and explain why some of these metrics don’t always agree on players. Hopefully by the end of this article, we’ll all have a better feel for evaluating defencemen in the modern era, and by extension, a better understanding of what Barrie brings to the table in Toronto.



Should we still be using points to evaluate defencemen?



When you look up Barrie’s stats, the first thing you’ll notice is his elite point production. Over the last two seasons, he’s in the company of some of...