Not a Yotes fan, but I’ve followed Barrett since his 16yo OHL season. I feel he is absolutely an elite, blue chip prospect and proving a lot of people wrong with the season he’s currently having.
If the Yotes focus their developmental resources on only one thing over the next year or two, I hope it’s Hayton’s skating. He is not a bad skater, but if he can turn his skating into a strength then he has 1C potential, which I already see shades of in him as is. He needs long hours with an elite level skating coach to fulfill that potential.
Next year, I would be happy for him to get a short cup of coffee in the NHL and then make a run at the OHL scoring title, while playing as the 1C for Canada at the World Juniors.