Player Discussion Justin Barron

[Harry Kakalovich]

Barron's not perfect, but he looks improved to me.

 

[Habs]

darn, I'm the only one that thinks he's as lame as ever? Cmon, agree with me and I'll buy you a beer

 

[DAChampion]

Keep in mind that posts made about posters has always been against the rules as it's off topic, just an FYI... But keep this in mind, even if I did have the worst takes on HF, i've been here every day giving info on prospects for over 20 years, don't ask for much but how the f*** do people have no respect, what the f*** makes you think your opinions are so great when so many on this board don't even know the simple rules like who can be sent down with waivers or not, etc...

So many good posters over the 20 years I've been here left and never came back because of so many toxic assholes on this board.

In my opinion, you are the highest value poster on HF boards Habs. You earn that rank both from high quality posts as well as providing them in good quantity. You are among ten or so posters here with an exceptional eye for the game, and of those, you probably watch the most games, the greatest diversity of games, and put in the effort explaining what you see, making videos, etc. The knowledge you display is that of somebody intelligent who has invested significant effort over a large and continuous period of time.

The poster that criticized you? I'm going to be honest, I don't even remember if most of his posts are good or bad.

So, what did you think of Barron's camp? Or maybe you wrote that a few pages ago and I missed it.

 

[26Mats]

You guy's know that Barron is younger then Wifi, Guhle, Struble, Right ???

Barron is 2 months older than Guhle and 2 months younger than Struble. Those 3 are pretty close in age.

Xhekaj is 7 months older than Struble, 9 months older than Barron, and 11 months older than Guhle.

 

[Bobby Holik agent]

darn, I'm the only one that thinks he's as lame as ever?

Yes.

 

[Habs]

Yes.

It's because you didn't want a beer, you wanted a wildberry cooler

 

[Habssince89]

He's lucky he's a righty, but honestly I'm not ready to give up on him at all. Development into a decent Dman is still a win. What I like about him is his best attributes score goals, the most important thing. As long as he can be a net positive then he's an asset. I think he'll be dealt and get a decent return.

 

[Intangir]

He's been better this preseason than he was last year, for sure.

Did he play perfectly? No, not even close to it.

But neither did any of the D we've used on our pairings, so it kind of becomes a numbers game at this point.

Matheson and Savard are our only vets, and so they get a pass. Guhle is out with appendix surgery, but he's better than Barron for sure. Hutson has also shown better than Barron this preseason so he will deservedly play over him to start the year.

Those are 4 guys I'd say are very clearly ahead of Barron at this point.

Then we come to Xhekaj, Struble, Mailloux, and things get a lot murkier as to who is more deserving, without even getting into the whole waivers conundrum.

From what I've seen in this preseason, I'd say that Struble has been overall ever-so-slightly more solid than Barron and brought more grit, though I also thought that Barron had the better flashes of the two (although with a more inconsistent defensive game but that isn't anything new).

Xhekaj serves a very specific purpose on this team given his toughness, and how he manages to break-up cycles when board battles come his way. But he's been I'd say the worse of the two defensively overall this preseason, and also worse for transition/puck-possession, has taken some very ill-timed penalties at times, and gotten again a bit exposed as far as his skating and reaction to speed go.

And I also thought Mailloux, though he still showed very well, did not play as well as Barron in his games so far. His first game, with better offensive deployment, I thought he did marginally better than Barron's first. But his second game was in my opinion much, much weaker than Barron's second, with a handful of mistimed plays, too much aggressiveness on his pinches and whatnot.

But then you add in how little pro experience Mailloux has, how much he still has to gain by being sent to the AHL, and the decision to send him down should in my opinion not be a hard one.

As for what I think of Barron himself, well, I actually like what I've seen so far as far as his progression goes. And I still think he has a lot of untapped potential, top 4 potential a bit like Petry.

But if he does not start showing more consistency, I think he won't realize that potential with us unfortunately given Mailloux, Reinbacher, and others who are also pushing.

 

[yianik]

Wasn't referring to you with the "skin" comment.

It is tough for any dmen to play well in Laval as MSL's system is entirely dependant on IQ which just happens to be the reason that most AHL players can not make the NHL as the hockey IQ is atrocious and when you combine that with youth/inexperience you end up with a chaotic environment to navigate.

Laval will once again be mirroring MSL's systemthis season and there are predictable growing pains that will improve as the season progresses. I entirely agree with this approach as Marty is proving that you can elevate hockey IQ and in order for young defenders in Laval to be able to assimilate to the main club the will need to be able to make the necessary reads even if it doesn't neccessarily work as well with their lower IQ AHL teammates.

Didn't a bunch of vets " petition " Marty about problems playing his man to man game and Marty agreed to use a more zone defensive system ? Thought I read something about that.

 

[morhilane]

Didn't a bunch of vets " petition " Marty about problems playing his man to man game and Marty agreed to use a more zone defensive system ? Thought I read something about that.

They did and MSL has changed it. You can tell who has been watching pre-season games just based on their Habs dzone play comment this pre-season.

 

[BLONG7]

Keep in mind that posts made about posters has always been against the rules as it's off topic, just an FYI... But keep this in mind, even if I did have the worst takes on HF, i've been here every day giving info on prospects for over 20 years, don't ask for much but how the f*** do people have no respect, what the f*** makes you think your opinions are so great when so many on this board don't even know the simple rules like who can be sent down with waivers or not, etc...

So many good posters over the 20 years I've been here left and never came back because of so many toxic assholes on this board.

I certainly appreciate your posts, and insight. This board is a better board, with you posting no doubt about it......keep up the great work!!

 

[26Mats]

He's lucky he's a righty, but honestly I'm not ready to give up on him at all. Development into a decent Dman is still a win. What I like about him is his best attributes score goals, the most important thing. As long as he can be a net positive then he's an asset. I think he'll be dealt and get a decent return.

If he can become competent defensively, he'll get a return - or even be a part of the future.

RD with offensive, skating, and decent size. But not everyone can figure it out defensively.

 

[Rapala]

Barron's not perfect, but he looks improved to me.

That's because he is.
Listening to Kirby Dach talk about our D he really believes we are going to be able keep our Dzone much cleaner this season.
Barron has had a very tidy camp is using his size to his advantage and is moving the puck well.
He is often the outlet who can get us out of trouble with his legs.
I don't know who pissed on this fan base's cornflakes when it comes to Justin Barron but I've seen this same mentality/bias before.
Lehkonen Eller and even Danault had people sniping at them no matter what they did.
It's like when they aren't meeting fans expectations nothing good they do will ever get recognized.

 

[morhilane]

That's because he is.
Listening to Kirby Dach talk about our D he really believes we are going to be able keep our Dzone much cleaner this season.
Barron has had a very tidy camp is using his size to his advantage and is moving the puck well.
He is often the outlet who can get us out of trouble with his legs.
I don't know who pissed on this fan base's cornflakes when it comes to Justin Barron but I've seen this same mentality/bias before.
Lehkonen Eller and even Danault had people sniping at them no matter what they did.
It's like when they aren't meeting fans expectations nothing good they do will ever get recognized.

He was traded for Lekhonen and wasn't a top 2 RHD from the get go.

 

[FliegerKorps]

Yeah i don't get it either. He looked improved.

 

[Rapala]

He was traded for Lekhonen and wasn't a top 2 RHD from the get go.

And that is exactly it in his case. He has to be something maybe his isn't or never was in some people's eyes.
Very similar to what the fan base expected to get for Halak.
Eller was never going to be a top six player on our club.
Watching him down the stretch in Laval I was the only one commenting on the things he was doing well.

 

[Tyson]

It won't take long to see that Barron shouldn't be a regular in the top 6. He simply plays too soft and can't defend.

 

[yianik]

They did and MSL has changed it. You can tell who has been watching pre-season games just based on their Habs dzone play comment this pre-season.

Yeah the 1st couple games I couldnt get, then after the injuries in game 3 I shut if off and have been drunk since then.

 

[Rapala]

It won't take long to see that Barron shouldn't be a regular in the top 6. He simply plays too soft and can't defend.

You will be proven wrong on this one my friend.
Barron will end up being a solid third pairing RD.

 

[Tyson]

You will be proven wrong on this one my friend.
Barron will end up being a solid third pairing RD.

I would be ecstatic if that occurred. We shall see.

 

[Rapala]

I would be ecstatic if that occurred. We shall see.

I really don't have a doubt that he can put it all together.
The question for me is will he be an ideal fit for us.
Jayden Struble is probably the key if he can play that right side Barron becomes a part timer.

 

[Hannibal]

Ive seen no upgrade in Barron play and he doesnt bring an element that’s so amazing beside being a RD.

 

[Tyson]

I really don't have a doubt that he can put it all together.
The question for me is will he be an ideal fit for us.
Jayden Struble is probably the key if he can play that right side Barron becomes a part timer.

I have watched many Habs teams from many different era's and Barron I would consider one of the softest defenseman I have ever seen. His style won't change, he hates physical play.

 

[CDN24]

He's been better this preseason than he was last year, for sure.

Did he play perfectly? No, not even close to it.

But neither did any of the D we've used on our pairings, so it kind of becomes a numbers game at this point.

Matheson and Savard are our only vets, and so they get a pass. Guhle is out with appendix surgery, but he's better than Barron for sure. Hutson has also shown better than Barron this preseason so he will deservedly play over him to start the year.

Those are 4 guys I'd say are very clearly ahead of Barron at this point.

Then we come to Xhekaj, Struble, Mailloux, and things get a lot murkier as to who is more deserving, without even getting into the whole waivers conundrum.

From what I've seen in this preseason, I'd say that Struble has been overall ever-so-slightly more solid than Barron and brought more grit, though I also thought that Barron had the better flashes of the two (although with a more inconsistent defensive game but that isn't anything new).

Xhekaj serves a very specific purpose on this team given his toughness, and how he manages to break-up cycles when board battles come his way. But he's been I'd say the worse of the two defensively overall this preseason, and also worse for transition/puck-possession, has taken some very ill-timed penalties at times, and gotten again a bit exposed as far as his skating and reaction to speed go.

And I also thought Mailloux, though he still showed very well, did not play as well as Barron in his games so far. His first game, with better offensive deployment, I thought he did marginally better than Barron's first. But his second game was in my opinion much, much weaker than Barron's second, with a handful of mis-timed plays, too much aggressiveness on his pinches and whatnot.

But then you add in how little pro experience Mailloux has, how much he still has to gain by being sent to the AHL, and the decision to send him down should in my opinion not be a hard one.

As for what I think of Barron himself, well, I actually like what I've seen so far as far as his progression goes. And I still think he has a lot of untapped potential, top 4 potential a bit like Petry.

But if he does not start showing more consistency, I think he won't realize that potential with us unfortunately given Mailloux, Reinbacher, and others who are also pushing.

This makes sense. assuming we only carry 7 D and all are healthy

I think we start the year with
Matheson-Guhle
Hutson-Savard
Xhekaj/Struble -Barron

Struble out played Xhekaj in camp but I would rotate those 2 in and out of the 3rd pair LD slot. If Hutson struggles (he might) then he goes to AHl for more development and both Struble and Xhekaj draw in at the same time.

If Barron struggles badly you can give Maillioux a call up and send down one of the waiver exempt LD (again assuming sticking with 7D). Ultimately if Barron really struggles you waive him and if he is claimed he is claimed.

I suspect Struble is probably better able to cover any Defensive deficiencies in Barron's game or whomever we slot in as the 3rd RD

 

[Tyson]

Ive seen no upgrade in Barron play and he doesnt bring an element that’s so amazing beside being a RD.

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