Martin St-Louis criticizes the defensive play of one of his young defensemen
The head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Martin St-Louis, has just sent a message to one of his young defensemen before facing the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It's a constructive message, but still.
Justin Barron has had a fairly satisfying start to camp, but he absolutely needs to improve his defensive play.
Quote from MSL:
«When we have the puck, we're fine with JB, but it's about continuing to work on the rest. It's a good opportunity; it's about understanding the situation. He's smart enough.» - Martin St-Louis
Clearly, Martin St-Louis remained very positive in his critique, but the message is quite clear.
A final battle between Justin Barron and Logan Mailloux?
It really seems to be a competition between Barron and Mailloux for the last spot as a regular on the Montreal Canadiens' defensive squad.
Barron's contract gives him an advantage over Mailloux, who can simply return to the Laval Rocket without any consequences, but it still feels like Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will "give the job" to whoever earns it more over the next two weeks.
These are two names to watch closely until the end of camp (Logan Mailloux and Justin Barron). Justin will also be paired with the excellent Lane Hutson tonight in Toronto.
Justin Barron, 22 years old, was a first-round pick in 2020 (25th overall) and has amassed 30 points in 94 NHL games. He also recorded 11 points in 32 games with the Laval Rocket in 2023-2024.
He is still young.
Logan Mailloux, 21 years old, was a first-round pick in 2021 (31st overall) and has tallied 1 point in 1 NHL game. Most notably, he scored 47 points in 72 games with the Laval Rocket last season, which is really impressive for an AHL rookie.
Both are right-handed defensemen.
| POLL | ||
Do you agree with Martin St-Louis' analysis? | ||
| Yes | 377 | 83.2 % |
| No, Barron is quite well-rounded | 76 | 16.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
