Prospect Info: 2020 NHL Draft 25th Overall - Justin Barron, RD

BrickNHL

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Everything I’ve seen and read (super limited) screams EJ to me. He seems to possibly have a bit better control with the puck and be slightly more agile, but has EJ’s offensive awareness. He seems like a good bet to skate the puck out of the defensive zone, which I think is something the Avs management tends to like. If someone knows his fancy stats that could verify or squash my theory please let me know.

From the very little I know about him, I thought about that comparison as well. Mainly because of the size, skating ability, and inability to do anything offensively once he gets the puck into the offensive zone.
 
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Everything I’ve seen and read (super limited) screams EJ to me. He seems to possibly have a bit better control with the puck and be slightly more agile, but has EJ’s offensive awareness. He seems like a good bet to skate the puck out of the defensive zone, which I think is something the Avs management tends to like. If someone knows his fancy stats that could verify or squash my theory please let me know.

If we can get an EJ replacement from an end of the 1st pick we should be stoked.
 

Northern Avs Fan

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It's crazy how much influence Mackinnon has on this franchise.

He wanted the Avs to take Barron and had been texting with Joe for a few days now about him and about the pick.

He already skates with him in the summer times.


I think regardless of how one feels about Barron... The fact he's already got Mackinnon lobbying for him, and he's already working out and training with Mackinnon is pretty great.

The Avs were probably a perfect fit for Barron to get drafted to and vice versa. Gonna be really hard for this kid to fail if Mack is already taking him under his wing.

I love that MacK is so invested in all aspects of the team. Obviously you don’t want players making draft decisions, but I’m sure he was just letting Sakic know what kind of kid he knows Barron to be.

Overall it just shows that MacK has no interest in playing for another franchise. If he’s that locked in on the draft for a guy that won’t play for the team for 3-4 years, he’s thinking about winning short term and long term.
 

Balthazar

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It's crazy how much influence Mackinnon has on this franchise.

He wanted the Avs to take Barron and had been texting with Joe for a few days now about him and about the pick.

He already skates with him in the summer times.


I think regardless of how one feels about Barron... The fact he's already got Mackinnon lobbying for him, and he's already working out and training with Mackinnon is pretty great.

The Avs were probably a perfect fit for Barron to get drafted to and vice versa. Gonna be really hard for this kid to fail if Mack is already taking him under his wing.
Where did you learn about Mack texting Joe to take Barron? Wonder if Hepple is a fan of that :laugh:

Like I always say too many people don't realize the value of Mack for this team.
 

Papa Francouz

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Where did you learn about Mack texting Joe to take Barron? Wonder if Hepple is a fan of that :laugh:

Like I always say too many people don't realize the value of Mack for this team.
I'd personally say his value is around $6.3 million dollars, at least for the next three seasons. I'll revisit this valuation in 2023.
 
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McMetal

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Lol Dater, that is most definitely not what he said. That makes it sounds like he thought Barron > Drysdale. What he actually said was that he was the first player on their board when they picked at 25, so they picked the best player available. Whether that's true or not is anyone's guess (or maybe they ranked him high because they needed RD), but Dater mangled Sakic's quote worse than a hand in a snowblower.
 

S E P H

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I 100% don’t believe BPA. Convenient that the BPA is friends with players in the org and just so happens to play the thinnest position in the pool. :laugh:
Sabres (and Penguins) entire drafts pretty much went "for needs" along with good talent at the pick selections'. I mean no team picks two straight goalers for the hell of it because they think they're the BPA for each pick. Nahhhhhhh...
 
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McMetal

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I 100% don’t believe BPA. Convenient that the BPA is friends with players in the org and just so happens to play the thinnest position in the pool. :laugh:
At best, one could say they bumped him way up their "best available" list based on externalities like this. But yeah, I agree, that's too convenient.
 

PAZ

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I 100% don’t believe BPA. Convenient that the BPA is friends with players in the org and just so happens to play the thinnest position in the pool. :laugh:

I would argue that Barron was the top player on the Avs draft board at the time of the pick. But that draft board does take things into consideration like team need, Mack's influence, etc. If a player like Reichel fell to us I'd like to believe we would've picked him over Barron. Each team does have a different drafting strategy.

Teams like Tampa and Toronto tend to go with more BPA than positional need (which is why Toronto ends up with so many high skilled midgets), but I do believe every team does take other factors into consideration.
 

henchman21

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I would argue that Barron was the top player on the Avs draft board at the time of the pick. But that draft board does take things into consideration like team need, Mack's influence, etc. If a player like Reichel fell to us I'd like to believe we would've picked him over Barron. Each team does have a different drafting strategy.

Teams like Tampa and Toronto tend to go with more BPA than positional need (which is why Toronto ends up with so many high skilled midgets), but I do believe every team does take other factors into consideration.
Then by definition, that isn’t best player available. ;)

I totally fine with factoring other parts. Pretty much every team does it. I just hate the PR nonsense getting spewed.
 
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PAZ

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Then by definition, that isn’t best player available. ;)

I totally fine with factoring other parts. Pretty much every team does it. I just hate the PR nonsense getting spewed.

True, but Sakic never did say he was the BPA, just that he was the highest ranked player available on their draft board at the time of the pick.
 

henchman21

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True, but Sakic never did say he was the BPA, just that he was the highest ranked player available on their draft board at the time of the pick.
That’s semantics... and Hepple preaches BPA every pre draft interview. Teams can’t really be honest about this stuff because people blow up when something doesn’t quite line up. If Sakic came out and said, ‘he wasn’t the top player on the board (very close though), but we feel he is the best fit for our future’ people would have an absolute field day with that statement. Even if it is the honest answer it would be worse if that player busted and player behind became a star. So I get they why they state things like they do, I just hate the cliches... and it is really the die hard fans fault that front offices have to tip toe.
 
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John Mandalorian

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BPA can be synonymous with drafting for need since “best” can be broadly defined.

If a team looks at a players perceived ceiling but also factors the likelihood of reaching that ceiling, the “best” may not be the one with the highest ceiling. For example, if you have a prospect whose ceiling is that of a 5 star player but there’s only a 50% chance of reaching it, it may not be “better” than a player whose ceiling is 4 stars but there’s an 80% chance he reaches that ceiling.

You can also factor in get into “best” being synonymous to usefulness. If the team is strong at RW but is thin at RD, a prospect who is RD can be “best” in that he’s more useful to the team. This could also pertain to looking for particular skills or types of players.

There are different ways you can define “best”. It can mean best now. Or it can factor in bust risk/chances of reaching that ceiling, progression timeline, usefulness, and so on.
 
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henchman21

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Best can also mean ‘best’ friend :laugh:

It is a cliche term that gets thrown around too damn much to cover tracks. BPA is not a real reality in most front offices. There are groups of players and preferred targets in those groups. Teams will reach for ‘their’ guy even if he doesn’t top the list. Then they’ll state how he was the top player in their list. Because saying he was 4th, but we really like his character and is friends with other prospects would fly.

Saying that... there are some true BPA types out there. Pracey left to his own devices was. It just so happened to top his list you had to be 5’10” and play center in the OHL :laugh:
 

MarkT

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I've never really like the term "best player available" because it could very easily mean two very different things.
  1. The player who us currently the best, which translates to most NHL-ready
  2. The player with the highest ceiling
I think in reality smart teams use a much more complex system to build their draft board, including a combination of current ability, past performance, future potential, character, fit with team style, and depending on the pick, team need. Personally I'd use the first 5 and then use team need as a tiebreaker.
 

Patagonia

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I've never really like the term "best player available" because it could very easily mean two very different things.
  1. The player who us currently the best, which translates to most NHL-ready
  2. The player with the highest ceiling
I think in reality smart teams use a much more complex system to build their draft board, including a combination of current ability, past performance, future potential, character, fit with team style, and depending on the pick, team need. Personally I'd use the first 5 and then use team need as a tiebreaker.

I honestly love this choice, it fits the team much better with Timmins health and EJ future with the XDraft.

Just not sure if this was the BPA and not a Needs pick? Personally, BPA should have been either JJP, Wallinder or Gunler.

Lack of 2nd possibly forced to choose earlier than necessary. No urgency for the next 2 years and should know the team future on Timmins/EJ and possibly Helleson's progression.
 
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MarkT

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I honestly love this choice, it fits the team much better with Timmins health and EJ future with the XDraft.

Just not sure if this was the BPA and not a Needs pick? Personally, BPA should have been either JJP, Wallinder or Gunler.

Lack of 2nd possibly forced to choose earlier than necessary. No urgency for the next 2 years and should know the team future on Timmins/EJ and possibly Helleson's progression.

I quite like the pick too, but I agree it doesn't look like they went for "Best player available" - whatever that means.
 

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