2020 NHL draft profile: Will Flyers go defensive route in 1st round with Justin Barron?

As time progresses, more questions continue to be raised about the 2020 NHL draft — from the lottery order, to where the Flyers will pick and just when the draft will be — there’s a lot of unknown territory.

Until such things begin to be hashed out, we’ll continue to take a look at possible options the Flyers could draft at 26th overall — the current spot they are slotted to make their first selection.

Justin Barron

Position: Defenseman
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 195
Shoots: Right
Team: Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

Scouting report

There’s not a ton of negative aspects to Barron’s game, which is enticing for any team that is looking to add a sturdy defender in the first round. At the jump of the 2019-20 season, reports had the 18-year-old out of Halifax with the potential of being selected in the top 15, but as the year progressed, with a few unfortunate speed bumps along the way, chances are he’s moved down the rankings a bit.

The defenseman was out for just over 12 weeks after developing a blood clot during the season. When the news was first released, Halifax’s general manager Cam Russell praised his work ethic both off and on the ice in a team interview.

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“When you lose a player of Justin’s caliber it’s a big blow to your hockey team,” Russell noted back in December 2019. “Not only on-ice, but he’s a real leader in our dressing room.”

Even facing that battle, he ended his season with the Mooseheads leading the defense in points (19) with four goals and 15 assists.

Barron holds all the potential to be a strong two-way defender that controls his zone, distributes the puck well at the blue line, isn’t afraid to shoot and has already proven his skillset in skating.

While his offensive contribution has dwindled from previous seasons, if he is able to combine his strength in skating with what he’s shown in the past in the offensive zone — chances are, he could become a very solid addition.

Fit with Flyers

The Flyers love their two-way defensemen and if Barron pieces those elements of his game together, he’d fit in quite well with the organization.

Not to mention, if he happens to fall this far back in the draft and is available at No. 26, it’d be difficult to find a reason to not want to bring him to the organization.

You can never go wrong with building up that blue line, but many of the recent top defenders the Flyers have drafted all have a left shot (Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov, Cam York) — Barron would shake that up.

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