With a surplus of talented young defencemen in their system, the Montreal Canadiens called up blueliner Arber Xhekaj on Monday afternoon after a seven-week stint with the Laval Rocket. In the process, fellow defender Justin Barron was sent down to Montreal’s AHL affiliate.
Barron reported to practice at Place Bell on Tuesday. Doing his best to hide his dissatisfaction, he summed up his reaction to receiving the news from the Canadiens less than 24 hours earlier.
“Obviously a little surprising and disappointing, but, at the end of the day, I’m coming down here with a good attitude,” Barron told reporters, adding that he plans to “go to work, improve my game, and hopefully I can get back up.”
When asked why he thought the move was made, the 22-year-old attributed the demotion to a recent lack of consistency.
“It was a little up and down. I think my consistency just wasn’t really there,” he said. “They felt I could come down here, log some minutes, and focus on some things I need to work on.”
Like Xhekaj, who benefited greatly from his 17-game stint with the Rocket, where he logged three goals and 11 points, Barron knows how it feels to be called up, as he began the year in Laval last season.
“I heard [Xhekaj] was playing well down here. I’m sure he’s gonna do great now that he’s back up there,” he said. “It’s kind of the same thing that I went through last year.”
When asked whether there was a strong sense of competition between him and other defenders, the Halifax native, who was acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche in early 2022, said it’s no different from other places he’s played.
“Sure, there’s that internal competition,” he said. “But that’s pretty much everywhere.”
Rocket head coach Jean-François Houle, who developed a plan with Canadiens GM Kent Hughes for Barron’s development going forward, is used to dealing with the disappointment of players being sent down and insists that time and patience will help him get his groove back.
“You gotta give him time. For us, we let the guys come down from their emotions… Even Xhekaj, the first two games, he was just okay,” the coach explained. “It’s not easy. It’s tough mentally.”
As for whether he will tune into Montreal’s bout against the Ottawa Senators tonight, Barron, who has logged six goals and 12 points with the Habs this season, is still undecided.
“I don’t know. Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it.”
In the meantime, he’s just focused on Laval’s next game against the Utica Comets on Wednesday.
“It’s a fresh start. I’m trying to get over it right now because we’re playing tomorrow.”