Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes had high hopes when he traded for Justin Barron. Seeing what Barron could be rather than what he was, Hughes decided to pull the trigger and sacrificed Artturi Lehkonen to get the right-shot defenseman. Over two years later, “the Warrior” as they call Lehkonen in Colorado, has become an integral part of the Avalanche’s attack. He currently skates on their second line and has eight points in six playoff games after recording 34 in 45-regular season games. Meanwhile, Barron has been struggling to grow into the defenseman Hughes thought he could be. Last season, Barron played 32 games in the American Hockey League (AHL) and 48 with the Canadiens. Had it not been for the Habs’ injury troubles, he wouldn’t have played so many games in the NHL.
Come July 1, Barron will be a restricted free agent and Hughes will have to decide what to do with him. Next season, he will have to clear waivers to be assigned to the Laval Rocket, and Hughes will not want to lose him for nothing. After all, we’re talking about the man who kept three goaltenders on the roster all season so no team could claim Cayden Primeau.
In his first full season with the organization in 2022-2023, Barron played 39 NHL games, in which he produced 15 points. This season, he managed 13 points in 48 games. That’s a modest production, but his defensive game has improved. He learned a lot in the AHL, but there are still a lot of unknowns about him, so I can’t see him getting a long-term contract, I believe he will be signed to a bridge deal.
The Habs have an abundance of top blue-line prospects, and Hughes is expected to use some of those blueliners to get some forward talent capable of producing offensively. But I doubt Barron could be used for that, as his value has never been lower. When he was first appointed as Canadiens’ GM Hughes said:
To give an example, I find analytics are very important, to have information. The question becomes how do we use that information? Do we use that information solely to make decisions on players? Or do we use that information to ask with our development team that, knowing this data, can we take it and use it to improve the player, or can we use it to determine that the player isn’t good anymore? I remember, a long time ago when Ron Hextall was in Philadelphia, he told me, ‘We are in the business of buying high and selling low.’ So, what can we do to avoid that approach?
– from ‘What we learned…
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