Barry Trotz Rips Into Tyson Barrie Over Leaked Trade Information

When news got out that the Nashville Predators had granted defenseman Tyson Barrie permission to speak with other teams about the possibility of a trade, the belief was that the team was simply looking to clear up its logjam on the blue-line.

But after general manager Barry Trotz’s scathing radio interview Tuesday night on 102.5 The Game, we now know the news was most likely leaked by Barrie’s agent Bayne Pettinger, which seemed to have really ruffled Trotz’s feathers.

“We talked to the agent and really disappointed it got out because there’s only four people in the world that know about any conversation about anything, and somehow it got out,” Trotz said. “So, I was very disappointed on that process and it didn’t come from the Preds — I do know that 100 percent. Obviously, someone felt it should be out there, so they put it out there and from my standpoint, we will get on the phones and say, ‘Obviously Tyson is not happy in his situation right now, is there any takers?’ There might be, there might not.

“…Different players react differently. I didn’t like the way he reacted to it. … I think the player just being in the final year of his contract just feels like A- he’s got to be playing on a pretty regular basis or hopefully if it’s not a fit, look for other opportunities. Everything is dictated on his play. He has to be a good player for us so he can be a good player for anybody in the league if we do decide to move him.”

Though Barrie is back in the lineup for Tuesday night’s tilt with the Chicago Blackhawks after being healthy scratched the last two games, it’s clear the 32-year-old defenseman is on thin ice with the Predators.

[read more: Which teams could make a run at Predators defenseman Tyson Barrie?]

Barrie hasn’t exactly gelled with the system that first-year head coach Andrew Brunette wants to implement. In 22 games, he’s tallied the fewest hits (6), shots blocked (22) and takeaways (2) of Nashville defensemen to play 10 or more minutes, and he had the lowest percentage of shifts in the defensive zone (7.1%), according to Money Puck.

He’s also seemingly been passed up on the depth chart by rookie Spencer Stastney, who the team is really high on and wants to find more opportunities to get in the lineup.

“Tyson’s game hasn’t translated as well as we had liked with us this year,” Trotz continued. “…He was having a tough time, obviously, not being on the first power play just with the look we get with our defense, how they play, how we play in terms of system. He felt he wasn’t quite fitting in, so the other night when he was healthy scratched, that was the first time in his career.”

While it was expected at some point the Predators would flip Barrie, who they acquired at the end of February along with a first-round pick and prospect Reid Schaefer for defenseman Mattias Ekholm, the belief was it would be closer to this season’s trade deadline when the Predators could likely squeeze the best possible deal out of a defense-needy team looking for an offensive-minded defender for a potential playoff run.

Now that it’s known that Barrie wants out of Nashville, his trade value presumably took a hit. But however long it takes for the Predators to find a suitable trade partner, Trotz made it clear he won’t tolerate any behavior unbecoming to the organization.

“If you don’t want to be part of the organization or that you can contribute, we’re going to work together to get you in a better situation, but I’m not going to do anything to hurt the Predators or our team’s chances of winning based on a player’s reaction to sitting out a game,” Trotz added. “There’s many top players in the league who’ve got sat this year, and everybody has a different level of professionalism or maturity or whatever it may be of handling these situations.”