Breaking down Justin Barron, other prospects moved at trade deadline

Prospects are exceedingly valuable commodities come trade deadline time. Few teams are going to value a prospect more than the team that holds their rights, which is why it’s so hard to pry them away. Deadline crunch time, however, can put general managers in tough spots.

Over the last week, NHL prospects were used in trades in a variety of ways, from nabbing key deadline additions to being sweeteners in taking bad contracts. In some cases, they were filler.

With the dust finally settling from the flurry of deals, I decided to take a look at the prospects or young players that were part of some of the biggest trades. I’ve also listed these players in order of which I find the most valuable.

Also, just as a note to the readers, I use letter grades as shorthand to detail my projections of players. An A prospect is an impact player as an NHLer (i.e., surefire top-six, top-four, potential all-star type player), a B prospect is a projected everyday NHLer and a C prospect is a player who has a chance to be an NHL regular. Anything beyond that I tend not to grade and that will be reflected. Additionally, a plus next to the letter grade suggests that player has a chance to move into the next tier, while a minus means the opposite.

Justin Barron, RHD, Montreal Canadiens

Acquired in the Artturi Lehkonen trade with the Colorado Avalanche, Barron is a former first-round pick and was one of the better prospects in an Avalanche system that has graduated a number of top talents to the NHL. Barron is an A-/B+ type prospect who looks like he could top out as a solid No. 4 if he hits his ceiling.

There’s enough offense there to call him a two-way defenseman and he moves pucks pretty confidently. There’s not a ton of flash in his game, but Barron is effective. He had 20 points in 43 AHL games this season, his first full pro campaign. As the captain of his hometown Halifax Mooseheads in 2020-21, Barron had 31 points in 33 games and was also named to Team Canada for the 2021 World Junior Championship. While there, he played a lot alongside Habs top defense prospect Kaiden Guhle.

Montreal has built a decent blueline beneath the NHL currently as both Guhle and Barron look like they could be good long-term pieces, while there are others who might pan out down the line. Dealing a highly regarded player like Lehkonen had to bring back something of substance, and I think Barron will prove to be the centerpiece of Montreal’s return.

Nathan Smith, C, Arizona Coyotes

The Coyotes managed to pick up a Hobey Baker finalist by taking on Bryan Little’s contract while shipping a fourth-round pick the other way. Smith is currently playing for Minnesota State University, which has been one of the top teams in college hockey over the last few years and is again this year. Smith also was part of the U.S. Olympic Team in Beijing as one of the many collegians invited to play for Team USA.

He was drafted 91st overall in the third round in 2018, and it looked like the Jets had mined a gem as Smith’s development has really taken off. However, he would be eligible to be a free agent as early as this summer and would be able to pick his spot. Sources have indicated that Smith was unlikely to sign with Winnipeg anyway, so they managed to recoup a draft pick and get Bryan Little’s contract off their books as he will not be able to resume his career.

Smith is a highly skilled center who has 49 points in 34 games, good for second most in the NCAA this season. He was named to the Hobey Baker Top 10 last week and has an honest shot at winning it, even if competition is very stiff this year. The 6-foot-1 pivot has dramatically improved his play off the puck and defensive commitment in general while gaining physical strength to play tough matchups. The Coyotes should have a spot for him as soon as his collegiate season is over and if they can convince him to forgo free agency, they could have themselves a promising two-way center with high-end puck skills.

Drew Helleson, RHD, Anaheim Ducks

This deal was done early in the week leading up to the deadline and it was a nice little pickup for the Ducks, who shipped out Josh Manson to the Colorado Avalanche. Helleson, a second-round pick in 2020, is a B prospect with at least a chance to become a little more if his offensive game takes another step as it did this season with Boston College. A 6-foot-3, right-shot defenseman, Helleson just had a career year with Boston College, posting 25 points in 32 games as a junior. He also won a World Junior Championship gold medal in 2021 with Team USA, where he was a top-four defenseman.

Sources indicated that Helleson had planned to return to Boston College for his senior season, knowing that Colorado wouldn’t have room for him for a little bit yet. It would have given him the option to pursue free agency in the summer or sign with Colorado. After the trade, Helleson immediately signed with the Ducks. I think he could become a regular fixture on their blueline as early as next season but more likely is a full-timer by 2023-24 after some AHL seasoning.

Morgan Barron, C/W, Winnipeg Jets

A 6-foot-4 power forward who can play down the middle or on the wing, Barron is the older brother of the same Justin Barron at the top of our list. I’m sure that was an interesting text chain for the Barron family Monday.

Either way, the Jets commanded a pretty steep price for Andrew Copp and were able to land Barron as a result. The former Cornell captain has been a pro the last two years, playing primarily in the AHL, and appeared in 18 NHL games over the last two seasons. We’ll see where Barron goes next as his numbers have taken a slight dip, but there’s no question that he knows how to use his big frame and he always has a high-end compete level. Offensively, he has pretty good touch and has been a legit shot-pass threat throughout his career. He’s a B- prospect that might be able to fill some holes down the middle for Winnipeg.

Ty Smilanic, C/W, Montreal Canadiens

A speedy forward with a knack for scoring, Smilanic has 27 goals over his first 68 NCAA games of his two-season career at Quinnipiac. Acquired from the Florida Panthers in the Ben Chiarot trade, Smilanic may one day be able to grow into an Arturri Lehkonen type of player. He’s been a little inconsistent the last few years, but there’s a lot to like about the way he plays and the energy he brings to the table on top of good skill. I’m a little higher on Smilanic than some others, labeling him as a B-/C+ prospect. I think he needs at least another year of college hockey before Montreal should consider signing him, but that’s a prospect with upside on top of the haul of picks Montreal also acquired.

Calle Clang, G, Anaheim Ducks

It took a while to learn which prospect the Penguins included in the big trade to acquire Rickard Rakell, but it eventually came down as Clang. The Swedish netminder has average size relative to goalies at 6-foot-2 but has also been one of the top young goalies in Sweden. He has appeared in 17 games with Rögle this season and put up good numbers, with a .915 save percentage, 2.28 goals-against average and one shutout. He had a .918 mark in Hockey Allsvenskan last season and was part of the last two Swedish world junior teams. Goalies are near impossible to project out, but the good news for Anaheim is that he’s shown well and still has a lot of development runway at age 20. He hasn’t played enough games this season to get a great feel for where he’s at, but he’s shown very well in the last few years. Meanwhile, the Penguins don’t have to fret parting with Clang as much because they have some higher-performing young goalies in their system in Joel Blomqvist and Filip Lindberg.

Jack McBain, C, Arizona Coyotes

When it became apparent that McBain was not going to sign with Minnesota, teams got interested fast. The former third-round pick had a career year at Boston College as a senior, scoring 19 goals in 24 games and putting up 33 points. He also got invited to the Olympics to play for Team Canada and more than held his own. McBain is a big man who can move. I have some concerns about his overall hockey sense, but his competitiveness and his newfound scoring touch suggest he’s got something to tap into. Prior to this season, I wondered if Minnesota would even want to sign McBain because he hadn’t really progressed, and then he broke out. Instead of going the free-agent route, he signed with Arizona Monday and may end up in the Coyotes lineup soon. I think he can top out as a middle-six scoring-depth matchups guy as a B-/C+ prospect.

Taylor Raddysh, RW, Chicago Blackhawks

Part of the package in the large Brandon Hagel deal earlier in the week, Raddysh is reunited with Erie Otters teammates Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome. Raddysh is not so much a prospect as he is a young player with some upside left to mine. Raddysh over-marinated in the AHL and became a point-per-game player last year. He hasn’t found the scoring touch as much with Tampa through 53 games this season, but he already has a goal and an assist in his first two games with the Blackhawks. A former second-round pick, Raddysh is 24 and should provide some scoring depth for Chicago.

Boris Katchouk, LW, Chicago Blackhawks

Another piece in the Hagel trade, Katchouk is looking more and more like he’ll just be a depth player and perhaps not an everyday NHLer. He appeared in 38 games with Tampa this year and had six points. In Chicago, he could get more minutes and might be able to reach what I thought his previous ceiling was, which was quality third-liner who gives you good shifts and can threaten offensively.

Aidan Hreschuk, D, Columbus Blue Jackets

In a wild trade that saw picks going here, there and everywhere, Hreschuk is probably the best prospect of the deal. He didn’t have a great freshman season at Boston College, but he just turned 19 and still has a lot of development time ahead. He should be a top-four defenseman for BC next season and could be in the mix for the U.S. world junior team. Hreschuk is a highly mobile two-way defenseman who has good footwork and can move pucks adequately. I don’t think this past season was the best representation of his overall game, but he still looks like a C-level prospect at this point.

Zach Senyshyn, C/W, Ottawa Senators

Part of the Boston’s fateful three straight first-round picks that preceded Kyle Connor, Mathew Barzal and Thomas Chabot, I’m not sure Senyshyn ever shook the stigma of being the last of Boston’s three picks. He’s been a fine AHL player but has managed 14 NHL games over four of his six seasons as a professional. Perhaps there’s a clearer path for him to play in Ottawa and he’s still only 24 years old, but it’s getting harder to see him as an NHL player in the long term.

Egor Korshkov, RW, Florida Panthers

In that wild three-team deal that saw the Panthers eat some of the Max Domi cap hit, essentially in exchange for Korshkov, I was left scratching my head some. Korshkov played the last two seasons in the KHL after failing to find a role with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I don’t know if there’s a role for him in Florida, either. Korshkov is a big forward who isn’t the best skater. His KHL contract is up at the end of this season, but I’m not entirely sure he’ll be coming back to the NHL or if he should.

Tyler Inamoto, LHD, Carolina Hurricanes

Inamoto is an unsigned collegiate prospect who opted to take his extra year of eligibility at Wisconsin. He’s five years removed from his draft and I’m not sure Florida had any plans to sign him anyway. Inamoto is a physical shot-blocking defenseman who never got out of the single digits in points in any of his five years with the Badgers. He can become a free agent this summer. This may just have been a paper move in the end.