Quoting: jonh514
Evans is great. Heineman is also NHL-ready (IMO)... he's been one of the strongest players at camp.
That being said, Guhle & Harris are ready, but Barron... he needs some more seasoning...
I liked Heineman in his draft year, seems like Lehkonen 2.0 with his smart fore-checking and IQ. Would fit Colorado really well. One of Montreal's video scouts (Yannick St Pierre, formerly "Draft dynasty" on YouTube) loves him too which is probably why they wanted him in the Toffoli trade.
I think Montreal fans over-hyped Barron. Avs fans were aware that he topped out as a no.4 Dman realistically which was fine for Colorado as that's all they needed, but Montreal need higher than that.
I've seen a comparison for Barron which I think is rather apt... A more mobile and offensively skilled but weaker defensively Ryan Graves. That's not a bad thing, because Graves is a solid no.4.
I said at the time he got traded (in the Lehkonen trade thread on Hfboards AVS page) that Barron had some notable deficiencies in preseason; notably gap control (surprising for a guy with his skating), zone coverage/man marking in front of the net, and board battles. Seems Montreal fans are coming to realise these things now too.
Ultimately it'll come down to expectations. If you expect him to be the saviour of the defense, you'll be miserable. If you accept that he's a solid and mobile no.4 who's good in transition but not the best defensively then you'll be happy.