Earlier today on Jared Stillman’s radio show on 102.5 The Game, Barry Trotz unloaded on Tyson Barrie, current defenseman with the Nashville Predators.
Over the weekend, we learned that Barrie essentially requested a trade from Nashville. This apparently came after learning of his healthy scratch against the New York Rangers on Saturday, a report that was initially made by Elliotte Friedman.
After much speculation on why Barrie would want to be traded this early in the season, Barry Trotz clarified the situation today.
“Tyson’s game hasn’t translated as well as we had liked with us this year,” Trotz told Stillman during his weekly visit. “He was having a tough time not being on the 1st power play… and with the new system, he wasn’t quite fitting in.”
After a meeting late in the week with Trotz and head coach Andrew Brunette, Barrie was informed he would be scratched for Saturday’s game against New York. The response from Barrie apparently did not sit well with Trotz.
“Different players react to it differently. I didn’t like the way he reacted to it.”
Trotz emphasized this multiple times during the interview, saying he was “very disappointed in Tyson’s reaction.” He even returned to his previous refrain of “I want you to come to Nashville to win, not to retire” when referring to Barrie.
Trotz also mentioned that the scratch was “dictated by his play,” indicating that the team was not happy with his performance on the ice. He concluded by saying the team would proceed to “find a better fit” for Barrie elsewhere in the league.
But that wasn’t all… Barry Trotz also expressed frustration about the story being leaked to the media.
“We were very disappointed it got out,” Trotz said about the leak. “Because there’s only about four people in the world that knew about it. I was very disappointed in that. It didn’t come from the Preds, I do know that 100%”
Later in the interview, he reiterated the point.
“Obviously, someone felt that [the story] should be out there and they put it out there. We will get on the phones and say ‘Tyson’s not happy in his situation right now, are there any takers?’ There might be, might not. And I’m sure him and his agent will be doing the same thing.”
So… who leaked the story?
The only option would be Tyson Barrie and/or his agent. This is assuming, of course, you believe Barry Trotz’s “it didn’t come from the Preds” statement.
From all of this, we can make several assumptions. One, however Tyson Barrie initially reacted to the healthy scratch, it did not sit well with Barry Trotz. Two, Tyson Barrie is not happy in Nashville, and maybe hasn’t been for a while. And three, the Nashville Predators are almost certain to trade Barrie sooner rather than later.
Yeeesh, what a mess.
— Featured image via Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire —
