Greetings and salutations, everyone. This is another edition of the 2024 Montreal Canadiens summer prospect rankings. We have already profiled thirty players, so we are now moving into the top 10.
While there are some players listed between No. 40 and No. 11, the players in the top 10 represent the team’s best hopes for the future, with some of the prospects having already made their NHL debut.
Today, we will look at players ranked No. 10 to No. 6, including two of the team’s best forwards in the prospect pool as well as a plethora of talented defencemen.
Unlike our Canadiens prospect power rankings, which are released during the season, this list is based on overall value, including perceived potential. Players must be 23 years of age to be eligible to appear on the list,
10. Justin Barron, 22, a 6’2′′, 201-pound defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens (NHL) and Laval Rocket (AHL). ranked 25th overall in the 2020 draft.
From the day he was hired, Kent Hughes was able to swiftly pinpoint a critical flaw in the Canadiens prospect pool. The Habs didn’t exactly lack right-handed defensemen; rather, there weren’t many prospects in the system with true NHL potential. In an effort to address the problem, he sent Justin Barron and a second-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for veteran forward Artturi Lehkonen.
We are all aware of how Lehkonen’s story ended. He gave the Avalanche the game-winning goal that sealed the Stanley Cup and guaranteed them a summer trip to Finland with Lord Stanley’s Grail. Barron, however, has alternated between
It’s not as though Barron didn’t contribute in the NHL. Considering he only played 48 games, his seven goals at the end of the 2023–24 season is quite an accomplishment. Barron would have finished with 12 goals, one more than the team’s top blue line scorer, Michael Matheson, if we extrapolate his goal total to an 82-game season.
Barron finished second among defensemen in goal scoring, even if we don’t bother projecting his total goal total for the entire season.
The primary obstacle to obtaining a long-term position in the NHL is Barron’s ability to make decisions. Although he can join the rush when the chance presents itself and offers reliable outlet passes, he also frequently makes poor decisions inside his own zone.
That’s very typical for a rookie defenseman, but in Barron’s case, the turnovers frequently resulted in scoring opportunities or goals against, creating the impression that the ball always ends up in or close to the net when he coughs it up.
To his credit, he always returned from his stint playing for the Laval Rocket with a newfound feeling of confidence. This is one of the reasons he ended up in the AHL in the last two seasons.
Barron is nearly assured a spot on the roster in October after the Habs moved right-handed defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic to the New Jersey Devils, though there’s a chance David Reinbacher or Logan Mailloux might take his place. Recall that Barron is now subject to being added to the waiver wire.
Furthermore, Barron is the only other right-handed defenseman in the roster with 94 NHL games under his belt, aside from David Savard, and he offers the kind of offensive blue-line assistance that head coach Martin St-Louis loves.
Although it won’t be a baptism by fire in and of itself, Barron may end up playing in the top four minutes of the game this season.
In addition to reducing the awkward optics of giving up the puck close to his own net, the extra ice time should help determine whether he has what it takes to play an entire NHL season.
