One of the biggest eye opening moves of this season from Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Trotz has been the Alexandre Carrier deal. The Canadians received a player who looked like he was becoming one of the standard bearers for the Predators, and the Predators got Justin Barron.
Barron, as a former first-rounder, was totally out of favor in Montreal. Back in Nashville, Carrier hadn't produced desired results in a few years, was awarded a free agency deal and a raise in the offseason anyway, and then became a victim of the shake it up trade challenge that Trotz was hosting. So how has it turned out since then?
Well, Barron is at least being given the rope to play up to his ceiling or down to his floor.
The Good from Barron
Barron is doing his best to bring the offense. In 12 games he has scored two goals and added an assist, and has been shooting at a pretty strong clip. Through those 12 games he has thrown 36 shots at the net, an easy to find average of three per game. He has been playing an increased roll of 16:38 per game (almost two more minutes) and finding his way towards the net often.
This isn't a surprise. In his previous stops, Barron has 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 111 games for the Canadiens and Avalanche. He wasn't producing heavily in his time, but he hasn't playing regularly either. His highest game total was the 48 he played for Montreal last season.
Barron is also willing to use his 6'2", 200-pound frame, adding up 16 hits and 18 blocked shots already for the Predators.
Out of the 29 players who have suited up for the Predators, Barron already is 18th and 14th respectively. In his slightly expanded role with the Predators, numerically he's pulling his weight and offensively the breaks are starting to go his way.
The Bad from Barron
The issue is that Barron's breaks have been too often the other direction. His one takeaway is far outbalanced by his 17 giveaways. Now, defensemen always have more giveaways, they just aren't in position to pick off passes and they have to make outlet passes far more often. Roman Josi leads the team with 67 to just 22 takeaways.
Barron forces plays, takes risks, and so far has paid the price for the errors. He got his head kicked in as a -3 against St. Louis in late December in less than seven minutes of ice time. Or in the San Jose comeback game. On the first goal Barron was making a pinch that really didn't need to happen. It results in an outlet to Macklin Celebrini who wired a wrister top shelf were mama hides the cookies.
Barron also tends to be a puck watcher. He needs to have the puck in his field of vision and then starts to ignore the world around him. This tunnel vision could result in chaos.
You look at the second goal from the big comeback against San Jose, both Josi and Barron are guilty of this sin, allowing a player to sneak behind them and screen Saros as Luke Kunin scores on a shot from beyond the top of the circles. Barron was also going out to challenge the shot which in the event of a rebound would've pulled him way out of position.
The fourth goal sees Barron flub a puck. Then later in the game he takes advantage of a bad bounce, and rushes to an empty space and makes no mistake in burying a puck past Alexandar Georgiev. In the next game he stayed aggressive but it worked. Barron decided to keep a puck in and wired a shot right off the boards to the net that Filip Forsberg deftly deflected in.
The risk/reward roulette wheel spins often at Barron's expense.
So What Now?
Basically, Barron needs to play. He didn't play enough in Montreal, and their glut of defensive prospects forced him out.
Now that he's in Nashville, Barron is sinking or swimming but you can clearly see the the tools. He's a good skater, big body who will use it, and has strong offensive instincts. His risk taking isn't paying off, but looking at the line, he shouldn't be playing with Josi. Both players thrive in this "rover" like role as defenders, but pairing two of them together results in people being left hung out to dry. The righty lefty matchup isn't worth it. He also probably shouldn't play with Brady Skjei either.
A pairing with a player like Jeremy Lauzon (once he's back) or Luke Schenn could help with the balance that Barron needs, but riding shotgun with Josi at least gives him strong minutes currently. That is also probably helping his fancy stats, as his Corsi and Fenwick are both on the positive side of things, but take from that what you will.
Barron should be an NHL regular, and could be one for the Predators, but they need to get healthy so he can be placed properly in the lineup to maxamize his talents and minimize his faults.