Montreal Canadiens re-sign defenseman Justin Barron to two-year contract

The Montreal Canadiens have agreed to terms on a new two-year contract with restricted free agent defenseman Justin Barron, the club announced Tuesday afternoon.

Barron, 22, collected seven goals and 13 points while averaging a career-high 18:38 of ice time in 48 games with the Canadiens during the 2023-24 regular season.

According to the Canadiens, Barron’s new contract with the club carries a $1.15 million cap hit for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. The Halifax, Nova Scotia product became the second up-and-coming defenseman to re-sign with the Canadiens on Tuesday, after Arber Xhekaj.

The Colorado Avalanche originally selected Barron in the first round (No. 25 overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. The 6’2″ righty spent parts of two seasons in the Colorado organization and skated in two games with the Avalanche in 2021-22 before being sent to the Canadiens ahead of the 2022 trade deadline as part of a deal that saw Artturi Lehkonen go to the Avs.

Through 94 career NHL games over three NHL seasons split between the Avalanche and Canadiens, Barron has racked up 12 goals and 30 points while averaging 17:33 of ice time. Although he briefly played with the Avalanche during their 2022 Stanley Cup season, Barron was traded that year and has yet to make his NHL playoff debut.

Before turning professional with the Avalanche organization in 2021, Barron enjoyed a highly successful junior career in the QMJHL with his hometown Halifax Mooseheads. Barron skated in 23 playoff games with Halifax in 2019 and was named team captain in 2020; he made his first World Junior appearance with Team Canada later that year.

The Canadiens now have 12 defensemen under contract for at least the 2024-25 season: Mike Matheson, David Savard, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble, Xhekaj, Barron, Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux, David Reinbacher, Adam Engstrom, and William Trudeau.