NHL Scouts’ Quotes -Peterka/Barron
April 20, 2020
By Grant McCagg
J-J Peterka – RW Munchen DEL 2002-01-14 5-11 192
2019-20 Stats – 42 7 4 11 14 Shoots Left
Ontario-based crossover scout Feb. 2020 – He is probably the best two-way, harder player out of Gunler, Amirov and him. Maybe not as high-end skill as those guys, but he’s pretty good and he can shoot it. Good skater, plays smart, can score. My question is how close is he to a finished product versus a Reichel. With Peterka; I think what you see is what you’re getting. I’m not sure there will be a lot of growth in his game. That’s why I have Reichel ahead of him.
Ontario-based crossover scout April 2020 – He’s a shooter. He’s got a good hockey body for a 5-10 guy. Strong, built right. He didn’t look out of place at all at the World Junior. I think he understands how to play both ways. He doesn’t play a selfish game. He a direct-type player. He’s got a little bit of a skating flaw, but nothing of major concern. He should be able to score some goals at the NHL level.
You just hope with all the Germans that they don’t play over there, hope they’re playing in the CHL or a better league. They need to come and play the right way. That’s a lot of older guys in the DEL; a different kind of hockey on the bigger ice. I wanna see them play in a more North American-style environment. The Germans are always open to anything. They don’t want to stay at home if they want to get better, so they usally go where you request that they go. Can they play in the AHL, can you work something out with a CHL team so they’ll go play there for a year and see how it goes. The Germans are a lot easier to work with when it comes to that than the Swedes or the Russians or whomever.
Justin Barron D Halifax QMJHL 2001-11-15 6-1.5 195
2019-20 Stats – 34 4 15 19 6 Shoots Right
Quebec-based crossover scout Feb. 2020 – He’s probably a four. He came back from injury and he was brutal, but he’d been out for a while, and that team was in absolute shambles. I’d worry a little bit about his medical condition having had a blood clot in his shoulder and there was no injury that created this, but as a player – his skating is so good, he’s got some pushback in his game, he’s physical, he moves pucks, he’s got some size. I don’t see offence, so I think he’s going to be more of a penalty-killing number four upside. So that’s not bad. He has slid some, but I want to respect him. He has potential; I know it’s not high high end, but it’s a pretty solid pick. And he’s a great kid too. I think he’s a player. He’s a different player now than last year. Not a great year; on a terrible team. What’s he gonna be is the only question. I think he could be a four who is a defender.
Ontario-based crossover scout Apr. 2020 – He’s kind of like Schneider for me, but not as physical. I’d like out find out more about his injury, but he’s got size, he can skate, he can defend, he’s got some jam, and he can move pucks alright. It was tough at the end when he came back because he was on a bad team and hadn’t played for two months. I think it’s fair to say that his sense is not elite. We saw a lot of errors from him this season under pressure.
Ontario-based crossover scout Apr. 2020 – Going into the season I figured he was a top-15 prospect. He may drop because of a lack of viewings. He’s all clear in terms of his injury from what I understand. I think he will be a decent defender. The offence we saw from him in his underage year was nice, but probably not who he is. When you play on a bad team the puck is always in your end and you are always under pressure. Halifax was bad this year…saw a lot more mistakes from Barron. Mind you, the year before they were very good..so maybe we were just seeing the real Barron. I figure he is somewhere in between what we saw this year and last year. Get back to utilizing his skating to get out of trouble more…regain the confidence to do that instead of rushing his passes under attack. You also want to see him be more aggressive in his defending – tighter gaps and more push back. He is capable of doing that. The team that drafts him has to hope he figures some things out, but if he develops properly, you will likely have a decent #4 defenceman, and that makes him a solid first-round pick.
CHL head coach April 2020 – In his age group at the Hlinka, it was him and Byram. He was way better than Schneider. Way better skater, way more skilled, passes the puck better. His hockey sense is not as high as Schneider. Barron can skate, he’s smooth. After 20, you draft him and you get a good player. When I saw him on tape this year though, he was struggling, he was casual. You hope that it was just a one-year blip.