Canadiens Defenseman Justin Barron to Focus on Building Confidence in Laval

The abundance of defensemen in the Montreal Canadiens organization forced management to make tough decisions. It began on December 4th when Arber Xhekaj was assigned to the Laval Rocket after being cleared to return from his injury.

Xhekaj’s progression in 17 AHL games earned him a call up back to the NHL. The team sent Justin Barron to Laval to make room for Xhekaj. At the time of his demotion, Barron had one point in 13 games and minus-4 while averaging 16:22 of ice time.

“He lost a little of bit of confidence. His touches offensively weren’t as assertive. It affected his whole game. In the NHL, it’s game after game after game and you’re just trying to come up for air. Just getting a little time (in Laval) and build his confidence back up, it’s going to rectify a lot of his game,” said Martin St. Louis explaining the decision.

Since joining Jean-Francois Houle’s squad, William Trudeau has been paired with Barron. “He’s an excellent defenseman. He’s a good skater, wins his battles and has a good vision of the game. There’s a good reason that he’s played with the Montreal Canadiens. I’m happy that I get to play with him,” said Trudeau about his partner.

Since the start of his career, the 22-year-old has shown that he can be dangerous with the puck in the offensive zone.

“Really offensive. He likes to join the attack. Overall, really solid defenseman. He has a lot of experience in the NHL. He’s a big part of this team and he’s doing well,” said Jakub Dobes praising his teammate.

On Friday, Houle promoted Barron to the first unit of the struggling power play, and the defenseman obtained an assist on the team’s only goal with the man advantage in six contests.

“Barron played in the NHL for a year. When he was here at the start of last season, he was our quarterback on the power play. He’s been on the power play in the NHL too. He’s able to be very good on the power play,” said Houle justifying the promotion.

He played his best game of his current stint collecting three points in a win against the Rochester Americans that night.

The following afternoon, Laval trailed by one goal late into the contest and Houle paired Barron with Logan Mailloux. The goal never came to fruition but there was quality chances generated with the pair at the blue line.

“He’s a great player. He’s been playing in the NHL for how long now? He skates well, moves the puck well, shoots the puck well, so he’s a good addition for us,” Mailloux said of his colleague.

The knock on Barron has been when the puck is not on his stick. The Halifax native notices an improvement since returning to the AHL. “I feel more confident defensively. I feel like my reads are more assertive. I’ve been trying to be a little more physical. I feel like my stick has been more effective. That’s been my main focus. With playing better defense it comes with playing the puck more and allow me to contribute more offensively.”

If the right shooting defenseman is able to improve his consistency defensively, it will help him earn a recall to the big club. 

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