The Montreal Canadiens have signed the second of the two defencemen they tendered qualifying offers to on June 30, inking Justin Barron to a two-year contract with a cap hit of $1.15 million per season.
Barron was acquired in the deal that sent Artturi Lehkonen to the Colorado Avalanche at the 2022 NHL trade deadline, The Haligonian has played 92 games with the Canadiens since, including a season high of 48 games in the 2023-24 season.
An offence-first blue-liner, he also set a new career high of seven goals last season, four behind Mike Matheson for the team lead among defencemen. It has been with Matheson that Barron has enjoyed the most success and looked the most comfortable, but that spot may not be available to him this season with the likes of Lane Hutson and David Reinbacher challenging for spots on the blue line.
With Johnny Kovacevic traded earlier this off-season, Barron’s value to the team in 2024-25 may be as the seventh defenceman who can come in to provide a boost of offence versus some weaker opponents. He has now completed three NHL seasons, making him no longer exempt from waivers, so cannot be directly assigned to the AHL.
