Barron said his goal in Buffalo was to get his legs under him to prepare for training camp because he hadn’t played a game since early April. He conceded that with his professional experience, he should be able to have a tangible impact in that event.
He didn’t.
Barron was not necessarily bad in Buffalo, but he didn’t stand out, either. And now that main camp has begun, with Monday being his first game, Barron still is not standing out.
He had the inside track for a spot on the right side of the Canadiens defence, and maybe he still does, but Barron hasn’t played like someone who deserves that inside track right now.
Barron got plenty of opportunity Monday, playing alongside Matheson on the top pair, playing 22 minutes, playing on both special teams, but it was largely underwhelming. At one point on the power play, Barron got the breakout going and dropped the puck back to prepare for the zone entry, except he positioned himself right in the middle of the ice at the opposing blue line and wound up intercepting his team’s pass to gain the zone when the puck hit his skate. He got in the way, basically.
Late in the game, with less than five minutes to play and the Canadiens pushing for the tying goal, they had sustained offensive zone pressure when Barron got the puck at the right point and forced a pass through the teeth of the defence. Predictably, it was picked off, and the Devils were able to clear the zone and get a change. Any momentum the Canadiens had built was dead.