RD Justin Barron (2020, 25th, COL; traded to MTL)

[DinosaurBones]

Ive watched all the games. I do think he'll drop to the 2nd round but I also think whoever drafts him, ESPECIALLY if its in the second round, its a steal.

 

[Intangir]

Ive watched all the games. I do think he'll drop to the 2nd round but I also think whoever drafts him, ESPECIALLY if its in the second round, its a steal.

There's close to no possibility of that happening. Barron's the third-best D in this year's draft, and a right defenseman to boot, so there are a lot of teams that will have him high on their lists.The bood clot he just had might make a few teams a bit squeamish about drafting him, with all the missed time, but that injury won't linger and I'm quite sure Barron ends up being drafted in the top 20-25.

 

[docbenton]

There's close to no possibility of that happening. Barron's the third-best D in this year's draft, and a right defenseman to boot, so there are a lot of teams that will have him high on their lists.The bood clot he just had might make a few teams a bit squeamish about drafting him, with all the missed time, but that injury won't linger and I'm quite sure Barron ends up being drafted in the top 20-25.

Depends on the reason for the blot clot. It's pretty uncommon in young people, so if you get one there's a chance you may be more predisposed to a clot long-term, and there are cases where you may need to be on anti-coagulants for quite a while. If that all checks out though, he should be a very good value pick-up, worthy of a 1st round pick for sure.

How would people rank Sanderson, Guhle, Schneider and Barron and why? This seems like a unique draft for very mobile shutdown defensemen. Feel free to add in other names if you feel they are relevant.

 

[Patagonia]

I can’t see Barron falling outside the 1st round. He’s likely picked by a competitive team with the patience to let him develop and make a boom/bust selection ie. PHI, COL, WSH or STL.

 

[cmcneil02]

I can’t see Barron falling outside the 1st round. He’s likely picked by a competitive team with the patience to let him develop and make a boom/bust selection ie. PHI, COL, WSH or STL.

I like the sound of Philadelphia

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

With him being a position of high demand and this year sorely lacking defence options I think he still goes round 1 for sure.

 

[scoutman1]

Barron will not fall to 2nd round...the guy is way too talented, defenders who skate like him with good size and great puck rushing ability who make things happen usually do not fall too far...he was hurt, came back before covid and looked good.

 

[EXTRAS]

He started half way through the season when Halifax had traded its top 3 scorers (Groulx, Lavoie, Trepanier).

What was the halifax offense and Barron left to play with? Leading scoring forward Zack Jones and his 34 points in 63 games.

So for a dman to put up 19 points in 34 games coming off an injury and no offensive help up front...is very good. In fact, his point per game was better than leader Zack Jones. I wouldn't worry too much about Barrons offense seeming like it stagnated...it's more just the team he came back to after his injury was horrendous.

 

[TopC0rner]

He started half way through the season when Halifax had traded its top 3 scorers (Groulx, Lavoie, Trepanier).

What was the halifax offense and Barron left to play with? Leading scoring forward Zack Jones and his 34 points in 63 games.

So for a dman to put up 19 points in 34 games coming off an injury and no offensive help up front...is very good. In fact, his point per game was better than leader Zack Jones. I wouldn't worry too much about Barrons offense seeming like it stagnated...it's more just the team he came back to after his injury was horrendous.

Halifax was absolutely terrible. In the games I saw, he looked like he was the only one playing defense on the whole team. As to offense, he had to generate everything by himself.

 

[Intangir]

Halifax was absolutely terrible. In the games I saw, he looked like he was the only one playing defense on the whole team. As to offense, he had to generate everything by himself.

Yep. Not only was he the only guy on his team that was strong defensively, but the offensive support he got was laughable. The Acadie-Bathurst Titans exist, and just had two of the very worst seasons of the last 30 years in the QMJHL, so Barron can't say his team was the worst in the QMJHL, but it was still not pretty.

Barron's stock has fallen a bit this year, no doubt, but the skill is still there, the intelligence and the tools too, so he'll get drafted high, and I hope the Montreal Canadiens are in on him if he slips past 20.

 

[Tube Skates]

Halifax was like watching a punching bag last year. Right out of the gate they lost McIssac and then Trepanier our most dynamic player. Trade deadline on the back end the loss of Patty Kyte and Walter Flower was devastating. Jason Horvath played really well though. Coaching staff did a great job by just keeping them in most games. Their best games were on the road except for a 1-0 shutout over Rimouski. Our goalies were good. No defensive support from the forwards. Couldn’t get the puck out of their zone. However when Barron came back from his clot issue he was absolutely dynamic in every game. End to end a few times every game. Pleasure to watch

 

[EXTRAS]

Sleeper top 15 pick, imo.

 

[Dominance]

Sleeper top 15 pick, imo.

Yep. I see him being consistently ranked between 25-40, but all it takes is one team. The Mooseheads are heavily scouted, and Barron was a top-10 favourite at the beginning of this season. If a scout really liked him last year, then caught his strong play after returning from injury, I could see a team taking him earlier than expected.

 

[majormajor]

What are Barron's best attributes?

Where do folks slot him as a pro?

I haven't seen him play - I gather that he's a strong player, mobile and strong positionally? Good but not great with the puck?

 

[TopC0rner]

Sleeper top 15 pick, imo.

His offensive upside may be limited, but I think he'll become a good top 4 that can play in all occasions.

One of the things that I really liked with Barron is that he is really good at getting the puck to the net. He's one of the better defensemen at finding shooting lanes (or opening them by walking the line) and he puts it low on net. I feel that's something that's often overlooked for defensemen.

 

[TopC0rner]

What are Barron's best attributes?

Where do folks slot him as a pro?

I haven't seen him play - I gather that he's a strong player, mobile and strong positionally? Good but not great with the puck?

He's a great skater, he has good size and defensive awareness. He can move the puck up the ice. He may not be the most creative so his upside generating offense might be limited. He has good puck skills, doesn't cough it up, can make a good pass. Like I just said in my previous post, he's also very good at getting his shot on net from the point. He can walk the blueline and find/create shooting lanes. He may have more offense than he's showed but he didn't have much to work with in Halifax this year.

 

[SympathyForTheDevils]

I think there's a good chance none of the Q Dmen is picked in the 1st round. That said, I figure Barron will probably be the 1st among them to be picked. He's big and mobile, and that's a good foundation for a Dman. He's pretty good at everything at the Q level, but that generally translates as mediocre at everything at the NHL level. Unlikely to be more than a 3rd pairing guy, but you never know.

 

[Tube Skates]

One thing that nobody seems to take into consideration is that he’s never been on the top powerplay unit with the Mooseheads. First two years he was on the second powerplay. McIssac going down was his opportunity but his health issues denied him of that

 

[EXTRAS]

The way everyone writes about him kind of makes him sound like a Parayko type dman.

 

[Odie Cleghorn]

His offensive upside may be limited, but I think he'll become a good top 4 that can play in all occasions.

One of the things that I really liked with Barron is that he is really good at getting the puck to the net. He's one of the better defensemen at finding shooting lanes (or opening them by walking the line) and he puts it low on net. I feel that's something that's often overlooked for defensemen.

If he can get the puck to net why is he limited offensively? Even if his shot isn't great wouldn't that ability generate a lot of assists from shots being tipped in?

 

[Intangir]

The way everyone writes about him kind of makes him sound like a Parayko type dman.

Barron isn't as strong physically, nor does he have Parayko's reach, which are pretty big components as to why the latter is so effective in the NHL.

If anything, Barron reminds me a bit of Slavin stylistically.

 

[TopC0rner]

If he can get the puck to net why is he limited offensively? Even if his shot isn't great wouldn't that ability generate a lot of assists from shots being tipped in?

Like I said, he's not the most creative offensively. He doesn't necessarily recognize and act on the better options on offense.

I believe he will still get his share of points, but he may end up more like a 2nd pairing dman.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I think he has more upside than Schneider... but Schneider is further along in his development and is ready to contribute on the bottom pair now. Barron fits in with Wallinder and Grans in terms of being projects and requiring time to develop. I think that 25-35 range is about right in this draft. I think Schneider probably belongs there too but there are some teams that will take him earlier.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think what you see from Barron is a very athletic defenseman. He has great size and skating. He moves the puck pretty well. He also has some offensive ability, but likely not a PP1 guy and PP2 is probably only a maybe at this point. Defensively, I think he defends well, but I don't think his sense in any part of the game is great, so the potential is obviously limited defensively, as well. He could be a middle-pairing defensemen who plays all situations and about 20 minutes per game, if he can successfully be a regular PP and PK player. If not, he can probably at least skate, move pucks well enough, and not be such a liability on the offensive or defensive end to play a bottom pairing role.

 

[PWJunior]

I think what you see from Barron is a very athletic defenseman. He has great size and skating. He moves the puck pretty well. He also has some offensive ability, but likely not a PP1 guy and PP2 is probably only a maybe at this point. Defensively, I think he defends well, but I don't think his sense in any part of the game is great, so the potential is obviously limited defensively, as well. He could be a middle-pairing defensemen who plays all situations and about 20 minutes per game, if he can successfully be a regular PP and PK player. If not, he can probably at least skate, move pucks well enough, and not be such a liability on the offensive or defensive end to play a bottom pairing role.

The fact that he's a RHD with mobility and size ups his value. Even if he only amounts to a 2nd/3rd pairing tweener, he'll be in demand because of the scarcity of the position.