Morgan Barron falls short in Hobey Baker Award, named First Team All American
Cornell left wing Morgan Barron, a sixth-round pick of the Rangers in 2017, was named one of the 10 finalists for the 2020 Hobey Baker Memorial Award honoring college hockey’s top player but fell short last night. For the second year in a row a defenseman, Scott Perunovich took home the Award
Morgan Barron First Team All Star
Barron, a junior who turned 21 in December, earned First Team All American honors last night. A big-bodied forward and team captain who plays a 200-foot game, he is a dual threat who can play center or wing. He can hammer pucks off the pass with accuracy but also display hawk-like vision and accurate passing skills through traffic when running the power play from the half wall. He spent the entire season on Cornell’s top line and showed less of a shoot-first mentality in his junior season than the year before. Barron kills penalties and can take (and win) big defensive-zone faceoffs if necessary.
According to The Draft Analyst, the Rangers did well by scooping up Barron late in the 2017 draft, especially when you consider he can play multiple forward positions and how spotty their drafting of forwards had been between 2014 and 2017. Of the 16 forwards the Blueshirts drafted in that span, only Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson have an NHL goal to their credit, with Chytil to date being the only official roster player.
Matthew Robertson Recognized
Rangers promising defense prospect Matthew Robertson was named to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team. According to The Draft Analyst he is a highly-intelligent defender. His skating, footwork, and agility are impressive for a rearguard his size, but most of his bursts of speed and quick dashes to loose pucks lean more towards the economical or deliberate side. One can assume he does this to conserve energy (Robertson plays somewhere between 22-25 minutes a game), but he also reads plays very well, anticipates properly and has that long reach to help him gain possession.
Robertson, like most top-end defense prospects, is incredibly poised. There’s a loud subtlety to his game in the face of a heavy or aggressive forecheck, similar to K’Andre Miller with Wisconsin. The differences between their respectve situations is stark – Miller plays for a rebuilding high-profile program while Robertson patrols the blue line for a Memorial Cup contender. But pressure from a forecheck is pressure in any language, and both have a mature way of dealing with it.
Note: Scouting info and analysis provided by Steve Kournianos via TheDraftAnalyst.com
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