The Blues have a crowded blue line on their hands, and Justin Barron looks like the likeliest odd man out once the injured defensemen start coming back.
St. Louis grabbed Barron off waivers from the Nashville Predators right before the season opened, using him as a quick fix after Logan Mailloux went down with a hand injury. At the time, Barron looked like the kind of depth piece every team wants: a young, right-handed defenseman who could step in when needed and give Head Coach Jim Montgomery some flexibility if the lineup needed a shakeup.
That plan has played out in Barron’s favor so far. After Theo Lindstein was healthy-scratched following the Blues’ first three games, Barron settled into the lineup and stayed there, with Lindstein coming back only when St.
Louis dressed seven defensemen against the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Barron has held his own in limited action, but the return of healthy bodies around him is creating the kind of roster squeeze that usually ends with someone losing a spot.
What makes Barron vulnerable is the Blues’ investment elsewhere. Lindstein is one of St.
Louis’ three first-round picks from the 2023 NHL Draft, and at 21 years old, he carries a much bigger long-term priority than a waiver claim from three weeks ago. The Blues also have reason to believe waiver pickups can stick; Jonathan Berggren, claimed from the Detroit Red Wings, made the roster and has been used in a top-six role this year.
Even so, the cleanest long-term move could be to part with Barron, hope he gets through waivers, and keep building around Lindstein.
Logan Mailloux creates another layer to the equation. The Blues traded Zachary Bolduc and saw Mailloux as part of their future core, a right-handed defender with upside who was expected to play on the top pair with Philip Broberg. Now that he’s set to return to skating when cleared, the expectation is that he’ll go right back into that role, which would bump Barron out of the lineup.
Then there’s Adam Jiricek, who has made this more complicated than St. Louis probably expected.
Jiricek impressed during camp but didn’t make the opening roster because the team wanted to prioritize his development. Once Mailloux went on injured reserve, though, the Blues recalled him and gave him a real look on the top pair with Broberg.
Through his first eight NHL games, Jiricek has looked comfortable and confident, enough to make the organization even more comfortable keeping him in the mix.
That matters because Jiricek is another young first-round pick the Blues are invested in, and if the team has to choose, his development figures to win out over Barron’s place on the depth chart. Barron has been steady since getting his chance, but he is still the waiver claim with less organizational capital behind him.
With more of the planned opening-night roster getting healthy, St. Louis is heading toward a string of difficult decisions, and Barron may be the one left standing outside the door.
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