JM_

I'd still rather not put out a defenseman who needs constant babysitting and can only play like an NHLer in the wrong half of the ice.  I'm not an advanced stats guy, but I've seen enough of Barrie's play in his own zone to want no part of it here; he's been a total liability for his entire career and the most offensive thing he does is disgrace whichever uniform he's wearing with his complete lack of interest to even attempt to play any defense.  The only thing Barrie should be carrying is the nachos to his seat on the press box where he belongs.

Agree with KH here. We need to get more solid in our end. If we didn't have 20 mill of dubious cap-expenditure, would have considered it.

@King Heffy -  that’s a tad harsh on Barrie is it not?  Granted, I haven’t seen the guy play nearly as much as you have, but what I do know is that he had an extremely good last year in Colorado.  
 

Even in Toronto, Barrie started to play much better when Babcock left.   
 

Barrie certainly has his warts on the back end, but there are always ways that teams can minimize a players weakness while maximizing his strengths.   Brendan Morrison for example, helped cover for Bertuzzi’s defensive shortcomings.

What I like about Barrie’s game is that it should age quite well (unlike Tanev).

Furthermore, I don’t expect Barrie to get paid a huge AAV.   
 

People point to the fact that we need to get bigger and stronger on the back end as to avoid getting hammered physically on the forecheck, but I think a far bigger issue for the Canucks was not having any good PMD’s other than Hughes (and Myers to an extent).   The additions of Juolevi, Barrie, and Rafferty should change that in a hurry.

Future D:

Hughes-Myers

Tryamkin-Barrie

Juolevi-Rafferty (or Perhaps Rathbone instead of O.J)

Now there’s a defense that will move the puck out fast.   The only question is if the above defense can play responsibly in their own end while limiting chances.