Justin Barron

Justin Barron
Born (2001-11-15) November 15, 2001 (age 23)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 Nashville Predators
Colorado Avalanche
Montreal Canadiens
National team  Canada
NHL draft 25th overall, 2020
Colorado Avalanche
Playing career 2021–present

Justin Barron (born November 15, 2001) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the first round, 25th overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2020 NHL entry draft. Barron has also previously played for the Montreal Canadiens.

Playing career

Junior

Following three seasons of major junior hockey for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Barron was selected in the first round, 25th overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2020 NHL entry draft.[1]

Ahead of the 2020–21 season, Barron was named captain of the Mooseheads franchise.[2] During the pandemic-interrupted campaign, he recorded 31 points in 33 games played. On April 27, 2021, the Avalanche signed Barron to a three-year, entry-level contract.[3] He concurrently signed an amateur tryout (ATO) agreement with the Avalanche's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.[4]

Professional

Colorado Avalanche

Barron made his NHL debut with the Avalanche in the 2021–22 season, appearing in a December 15, 2021 game against the New York Rangers.[5] Collectively, he appeared in 50 games with the Eagles, registering six goals and eighteen assists, along with two scoreless games with the Avalanche.

Montreal Canadiens

On March 21, 2022, Barron was traded by the Avalanche, along with a 2024 second-round draft pick, to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forward Artturi Lehkonen.[6] He initially attracted good publicity upon arrival to Montreal, specifically by demonstrating proficiency in French as a result of having taken immersion classes during his schooling in Nova Scotia.[7] Barron made his debut with the team in a March 27 game against the New Jersey Devils, amassing 17:55 of total ice time.[8] He registered his first career NHL point, an assist, in a March 29 game against the Florida Panthers.[9] Thereafter, Barron scored his first career NHL goal in an April 5 game against the Ottawa Senators, his first home game at the Bell Centre. He suffered an ankle injury in the same game and exited early.[10] Seven days later, the team announced that he would miss the remainder of the season and would be unable to join the Laval Rocket, the franchise's AHL affiliate, for the Calder Cup playoffs.[11]

After recovering from injury, it was widely assumed that Barron would make the Canadiens' roster for the 2022–23 season out of training camp. However, after an underwhelming performance in the preseason, he was instead assigned to Laval. He admitted that this was initially difficult to process, but after some struggles in his early games with the Rocket, he set about "to play well enough to hopefully be that first call-up, and at some point, get back up there."[12] He was soon credited as the team's strongest defenceman.[13] On December 27, he was recalled by the Canadiens, having managed 7 goals and 9 assists in 25 AHL games.[14] Barron played the remainder of the season in the NHL, drawing generally positive assessments.[15] After the Canadiens failed to qualify for the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, Barron was one of four players reassigned to Laval to end the season.[16]

As a restricted free agent following the 2023–24 season, Barron was tendered a qualifying offer by the Canadiens on June 30, 2024.[17] On July 30, he signed a two-year, $2.3 million contract extension.[18]

Early on into the 2024–25 season, Barron skated in his 100th career NHL game, a 4–3 shootout loss versus the New York Islanders on October 19.[19]

Nashville Predators

On December 18, 2024, Barron was traded to the Nashville Predators in exchange for fellow defenceman Alexandre Carrier.[20]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Canada
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Finland/Latvia
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2021 Canada
Hlinka Gretzky Cup
Gold medal – first place 2018 Canada

Barron was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships[21] where he had two assists in seven games as Canada was defeated by the United States in the gold medal game.[22]

Following the Montreal Canadiens not qualifying for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Barron accepted an invitation to join the national senior team at the 2023 IIHF World Championship,[23] winning a gold medal.[24]

Personal life

Barron's older brother, Morgan, is a professional ice hockey player for the Winnipeg Jets.[25]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2017–18 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 51 2 19 21 8 9 0 3 3 2
2018–19 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 68 9 32 41 34 23 2 11 13 10
2019–20 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 34 4 15 19 6 — — — — —
2020–21 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 33 8 23 31 40 — — — — —
2020–21 Colorado Eagles AHL 7 1 3 4 4 2 1 2 3 0
2021–22 Colorado Eagles AHL 43 5 15 20 8 — — — — —
2021–22 Colorado Avalanche NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2021–22 Montreal Canadiens NHL 5 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
2022–23 Laval Rocket AHL 25 7 9 16 6 — — — — —
2022–23 Montreal Canadiens NHL 39 4 11 15 20 — — — — —
2023–24 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 7 6 13 16 — — — — —
2023–24 Laval Rocket AHL 32 2 9 11 10 — — — — —
2024–25 Montreal Canadiens NHL 17 1 0 1 8 — — — — —
NHL totals 111 13 18 31 44 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2017 Canada Red U17 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 0 1 1 2
2018 Canada HG18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 0 5 5 0
2021 Canada WJC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 0 2 2 0
2023 Canada WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 10 0 3 3 2
Junior totals 18 0 8 8 2
Senior totals 10 0 3 3 2

Awards and honours

Award Year Ref
QMJHL
All-Rookie Team 2018 [26]
Second All-Star Team 2021 [27]
AHL
All-Star Game 2023 [28]

References

  1. ^ "Avalanche Selects Justin Barron 25th Overall in 2020 NHL Draft". Colorado Avalanche. Retrieved October 6, 2020 – via NHL.com.
  2. ^ Spurr, Bill (October 1, 2020). "Justin Barron named Mooseheads captain". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  3. ^ "Avalanche Signs Justin Barron". Colorado Avalanche. April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021 – via NHL.com.
  4. ^ "Eagles sign Barron to ATO agreement". American Hockey League. April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  5. ^ Baugh, Peter (2021-12-15). "'He kept it solid': Breaking down Avalanche prospect Justin Barron's NHL debut". The Athletic. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  6. ^ "Avs acquire Lehkonen from Canadiens". TSN. March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  7. ^ Cowan, Stu (March 23, 2022). "Canadiens' Justin Barron makes strong first impression". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  8. ^ Leijon, Erik (March 28, 2022). "St. Louis trusts Barron in shootout loss to Devils". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  9. ^ "MTL@FLA: Game recap". Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via NHL.com.
  10. ^ Hickey, Pat (April 5, 2022). "Gallagher's return gives Canadiens a boost, but Senators triumph 6-3". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  11. ^ "Canadiens' Allen, Barron out for remainder of the season". Sportsnet. April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  12. ^ Basu, Arpon; Godin, Marc Antoine (October 31, 2022). "Boring Sean Monahan origins, chatting with Canadiens' Justin Barron". The Athletic. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  13. ^ Zurkowsky, Herb (November 28, 2022). "Improved defence, physicality could be Barron's ticket back to Canadiens". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  14. ^ Book, Jared (December 27, 2022). "Montreal Canadiens recall Justin Barron from the Laval Rocket". SB Nation. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  15. ^ Stoller, Jacob (February 22, 2023). "Justin Barron is unnoticeable in all the right ways". The Hockey News. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  16. ^ "Canadiens reassign four players to Laval". Montreal Canadiens. April 17, 2024. Retrieved September 17, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  17. ^ "Canadiens submit qualifying offers to two players". Montreal Canadiens. June 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  18. ^ "Two-year contract for Justin Barron". Montreal Canadiens. July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  19. ^ @CanadiensMTL (October 19, 2024). "💯 matchs dans la LNH

    #GoHabsGo"     (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "Predators Acquire Justin Barron From Montreal". Nashville Predators. December 18, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  21. ^ "Justin Barron named to Canada's team for world junior hockey tournament". CBC Sports. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  22. ^ Knabenbauer, Ron. "Team USA Wins Gold at 2021 World Junior Championship". Colorado Avalanche. Retrieved January 6, 2021 – via NHL.com.
  23. ^ Milner, Evan (May 5, 2023). "Sam Montembeault and Justin Barron named to Team Canada". Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  24. ^ Labelle, Florence (May 28, 2023). "Barron and Montembeault win gold". Translated by Milner, Evan. Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved December 11, 2024 – via NHL.com.
  25. ^ "Morgan Barron". Eliteprospects.com.
  26. ^ Blouin, Maxime (April 5, 2018). "The 2018 Golden Puck Awards: a night to remember!". Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via CHL.ca.
  27. ^ Brien, David (June 21, 2021). "2020-21 QMJHL Second All-Star Team". Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via CHL.ca.
  28. ^ "Rocket gearing up to host All-Star Classic". American Hockey League. January 24, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Colorado Avalanche first round draft pick
2020 		Succeeded by