2020 Flames First Round Targets: Justin Barron

The 2020 NHL Draft is scheduled for October 6 and 7, conducted remotely. The Calgary Flames have a first-round selection and will pick 19th overall. In advance of the draft, we’ll be looking at some contenders to be selected at 19th.

Next up? The Halifax Mooseheads defenceman who doubles as a takeaway machine and a counterattack maven, Justin Barron.

Equipped with some shiny and rarefied traits and tools—a bulky 6’2” 198-pound 18-year-old frame that flings pucks with principal propulsion provided by his right hand—the newest Mooseheads captain has excelled in his hometown for two seasons now. He missed half of last season with a blood clot, and the organization announced this past week that his absence will persist indefinitely as he resolves more medical issues. But at his healthiest, Barron commands with composure at both ends of the ice as one of the most mature defencemen of his class.

Justin Barron hustles. He tacks himself onto rushes as the trailer whenever opportunity beckons, yet he also often hijacks the puck himself in the neutral zone to usher it safely over the blueline. The constant variable that validates this exponentially successful rushing formula? His smooth, refined stride.

Barron blasts out of his own end with ease, showcasing himself as a strong, sturdy, stolid skater who gallops and backtracks like some cautious, calculating horse. He carves through the ice and protects the puck. He keeps up with forecheckers, shepherds them into corners. And he can accelerate.

But he mostly wins recognition for defensive play equally reliant on one long stick and two lampooning shoulders. His sheer height necessitates not a twig but an absolute pole—perfect for foiling shot attempts, disrupting passes and pinching in the offensive zone. When the stick fails, however, Barron occasionally unmasks a seething alter ego.

He hits…

And he hits…

And he hits. Beyond bruising opponents in open-ice, Barron flaunts his physicality as a tireless battler along the boards. He is not reckless with his ability to thunder such blows either, but tactful—acutely aware of his own size and speed and shutdown acumen, he assesses the situation in a way that always lands the punch.

Offensively, Barron boasts an accurate slingshot wrister release from the blueline. He selects his shots as meticulously, tastefully and profitably as he does his hits, always scoping lanes. In Halifax, he quarterbacks the power play. Defence definitely dominates the dendrites in his frontal lobes, but flares of offence fire there too that connect the various synapses of his game into one cohesive, effective hockey brain.

Cam Robinson from Dobber Prospects also commends Barron’s completeness, naming him a “jack-of-all-trades defender” who is “good in every area of the ice.”

TSN’s Craig Button expands on his well-rounded game, attributing it to his composure and maturity:

Onlookers wonder, however, whether “jack of all trades” Barron actually embodies the latter half of the cliche as more of a “master of none.” He is a great skater, but not a phenom. He is a deft hitter, but not a wrecking ball. He is a smart shooter, but not a sniper. Scouts inclined to gamble may balk at someone like Barron, who seems to pose as conservative a reward as his minimal risk. Doubtlessly Barron is good. But how good will he be at the NHL level?

Thought the blood clot marred and limited his minutes this season, Barron scored 4 goals and 19 points in 34 games. The season before, however, he posted 9 goals and 41 points in 68 games, sustaining a respectable 0.6 points per game over both years. In 2018-2019, he finished 15th among all QMJHL defencemen in total points, too.

Barron also proffered a positive output while representing Canada at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. At the tournament, Barron notched 5 points in 5 games, all assists, gleaming as one of the most dynamic defencemen at the event.

Mark Giordano shoots left. Noah Hanifin shoots left. Juuso Valimaki shoots left. Connor Mackey shoots left. Aside from Rasmus Andersson, both the Flames’ pipeline and their projected professional roster for the next few years simply teem with left-handed defencemen. But Barron shoots right. His handedness and positioning, atop his tall and bulky build, could enhance a Flames blueline totally depleted, deficient of his ilk.

And cascading landslides of signs indicate that Barron will be available for the Flames to snatch at 19th overall. FC Hockey ranks him as the 38th best available prospect overall for Tuesday’s draft, and McKeen’s shares this stance on him as a second rounder by issuing him the 54th position. ISS Hockey, Craig Button, and Bob McKenzie, however, all foresee a first round selection by slotting Barron at 23rd, 26th, and 25th on their respective prospects lists. Regardless, it is highly unlikely that any broadcasters plaster his name on the virtual draft board before the Flames take the proverbial stage to announce their first round pick on Tuesday.

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