BROSSARD, Que. — If you asked the Montreal Canadiens, their coaches, members of the organization’s management group, his brother, Morgan, who plays for the Winnipeg Jets, or even some of the game’s most notorious players — from Sidney Crosby to Brad Marchand to Nathan MacKinnon, who are all participants in summer skates with him — they’d all tell you that one of the hallmarks of Justin Barron’s game is his vision.
So it should come as no surprise that Barron clearly sees what’s in front of him as he partakes in his third Canadiens training camp.
The 22-year-old defenceman is staring at what might be his last opportunity to make a permanent spot for himself with this team, and he doesn’t need a pair of glasses to identify who could potentially get in the way of him capitalizing on it.
Contrary to popular opinion, it isn’t Logan Mailloux. It’s Barron himself.
Two years ago, when the Canadiens came roaring into their rebuild with a willingness to dress the NHL’s youngest defence for 82 games, the Halifax native was in pole position for a job but never got his engine out of neutral. A year ago, when he was once again well-placed in camp to help patch the right side of the team’s blue line, he managed to start well enough to make it but didn’t maintain his good play long enough to stick through January.
Barron was competing against good players in both situations, but they didn’t beat him more than he beat himself.
This time around, though, Barron, feels equipped to break the pattern. And he knows his ability to do it will depend on winning the competition with himself, first and foremost.
“I think it’s just focus on my game in the sense of not trying to be something I’m not,” Barron said earlier this week. “I have to play to my strengths, and I know what I’m capable of. I thought my first year, I didn’t have a great camp. I thought last year, my camp was much better. But this year, I want to take a step, be real solid, really grab my spot on the roster opening night.”
While everyone watching this camp has been gawking over nearly every step 20-year-old Lane Hutson has taken toward taking his place with the Canadiens, while they’ve been sizing up the 21-year-old Mailloux’s fitness to pierce through at this level, Barron hasn’t just quietly been going about his business.
He’s been a standout since the beginning, playing assertively, and with the swagger he hoped to carry but never quite displayed with any consistency through his first years in the Canadiens’ organization.
It’s made him very noticeable.
It’s why when Nick Suzuki was asked to point out a player or two who popped to his eyes after the first on-ice session, the first name that came out of his mouth was Barron’s, pointing to how he took charge of the young group of defencemen on their team and directed them in all faceoff situations during that morning’s scrimmage.
That leadership is a sign of newfound confidence within the player.
It’s normal that Barron didn’t quite always have it as he was making his way with the Canadiens following the 2022 trade that brought him to Montreal from Colorado. The former first-round pick of the Avalanche arrived with just two games of NHL experience and offered but a taste of the talent he possessed through his first five games in his new uniform.
After spending some time with the AHL’s Laval Rocket to start the 2022-23 season, Barron showed his offensive chops with the Canadiens, collecting four goals and 15 points through 39 games.
He split the last season with both teams, concentrating on refining his defensive game, and he’s come into this one eager to prove it’s in a place that can carry him forward.
Barron knows now’s the time, even if he’s only 22 years old.
He may still be young, but he’s got quality experience under his belt, and he feels he’s ready to leverage it to his advantage.
“I’ve got my skating, my vision, my hockey IQ, and I think I move the puck pretty well,” Barron said, “but my focus the last two years has been getting better at defending, being harder to play against and gaining the coaching staff’s trust to play me in those defensive situations.”
“That’s what I’ve also been working on in this summer, too,” he added. “That’s the next step for my game is to elevate defensively.”
For head coach Martin St. Louis, it’s for Barron to do it consistently.
Speaking with reporters on Saturday, St. Louis elaborated on that.
“For me, it’s his physical engagement on the ice,” he said. “JB is a really good skater, and we know he has a very good head for the game of hockey with the way he sees the ice and is able to read the game everywhere. Now it’s about the rest of the game.
“Over the rest of the game, it’s more about that than what you do with the puck because if JB plays 20 minutes, he might have the puck for one minute max and there’s 19 minutes he won’t have the puck. So, how engaged are you? Are you boxing out? Are you blocking shots?
“I find he’s made nice improvements on this, and it’s good that he has. Now it’s about consistency in these elements. That’s what he needs to find.”
Barron has displayed it since the Canadiens hit the ice on Thursday, but now he must carry it forward every day. The goal is to not only extend this good start but build on it.
“I feel good about my game,” he said, “and I feel ready to take the next step this year and establish myself as a full-time NHL player.”
With several players trying to do the same at Canadiens camp, the competition is fierce. And no matter how the dust settles before the start of the season, it’s going to remain fierce as the season rolls along.
But as long as Barron continues to focus on winning his internal battle, he gives himself his best chance of meeting his objective.
