Free washer | Jordan Harris: neither Fox nor Makar

Those expecting a Cale Makar or an Adam Fox, a savior what, will be disappointed. Jordan Harris is nothing like these two attacking defenders in terms of style of play or impact.

Mathias Brunet
The Press

Harris, 21, finally signed a professional contract with the Canadiens this weekend. He will join the team on Tuesday in Florida and will end the season in a CH uniform.

This 2018 third-round pick, 71^and in total, behind Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Alexander Romanov, Jesse Ylonen, Jacob Olofsson and Cam Hillis left himself to be desired.

The former administration expected him to join the team a year earlier, but the youngster opted to complete his college internship at Northeastern. His decision raised fears of a lack of interest in the organization and the desire to join the team of his childhood, the Boston Bruins.

Let’s settle the offensive aspect of his game right away. Harris had 19 points in as many games last year for the Huskies, and 20 in 39 games this season with a club reoriented towards defense this winter. Northeastern has averaged 2.5 goals per game this season, compared to 3.3 last year. That’s almost one goal less per game!

In his senior year at Umass-Amherst, at age 20, Makar had 49 points in 41 games. At the same age, Fox had 48 in 33 games at Harvard.

Jordan Harris, a left-handed defenseman, won’t have you jumping out of your seat carrying the puck across the rink, although he might on occasion.

One notices at first in him an extraordinary mobility. A rare fluidity. This allows him to recover loose pucks quickly and benefit from an extra split second on his opponents.

His intelligence allows him to make the right decisions, with and without the puck. His positioning is always impeccable. Despite a size of 5 feet 11 inches and 185 pounds, this American from Massachusetts is not easily jostled.

Harris could spend between 27 and 30 minutes per game with the Huskies, of which he was the captain. His biggest asset there could be a liability in the NHL: things had gotten so easy for him at Northeastern that he will need an adjustment.

The new defender of the Canadian sometimes seemed to play against children, even if the NCAA is made up mostly of players aged 20 to 24. His reaction time will be shorter at the professional level. He tended to bring the game tempo back to his own pace in the collegiate ranks. He will now have a rhythm imposed on him.

At his peak, Jordan Harris will be a member of the defensive top four, on the right or left side, and will make the Canadian a better team.

To give you a better idea of ​​his style of play, think first of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic or a Jonas Brodin before dreaming of a Makar, a Doughty or a Charlie McAvoy.

Brodin has never reached the 30-point mark in a season after more than a decade with the Minnesota Wild. But he’s the Wild’s most-used defenseman at almost 24 minutes per game and now makes 6 million a year.

We are obviously talking about potential here. Let’s see if Jordan Harris can reach it. He seems to have the will, the talent and the character to do it. But it will take time.

Take new right-hander Justin Barron, in his first game Sunday since being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche against Artturi Lehkonen. We quickly observed his mobility. He is not shy and is not afraid to support the attack.

But at 20, his game is obviously far from over. Especially after just three NHL games. There were certain deficiencies in terms of positioning at times against the Devils, whether it was the gap between the carrier of the puck and him or in relation to the way of defending collectively.

Despite everything, Martin St-Louis had the audacity to allow him to start the overtime period and return to it. Barron played 17:55, more than Chris Wideman and Cory Schueneman. The CH have nothing to lose being already eliminated, but the coach was not obliged to do him such a favor either.

Now the key word: patience. Aleksandr Romanov. 22, was not the defensive monster he is now, at 24, 25 and sometimes 27 minutes per game. His game wasn’t even considered polished enough to make the playoffs last summer.

Jordan Harris does not have the professional experience of Justin Barron. He had played 50 games in the American League and two games in the NHL before joining the Canadian. In contrast, Harris is almost a year and a half older. He will be 22 in July, seven months after Romanov.

In the absence of playoffs, the end of the season will be interesting and will provide us with a good overview of the next generation in defense.

A few fewer balls in the abacus…

With a record of 10-4-4 in its last 18 games, the Canadian climbs slightly in the general classification. He is now ahead at 30^and rank Seattle by one point and Arizona by two, but they have one more game to play. Montreal is also within five points of Ottawa and six of Philadelphia and New Jersey. The chance of being fished first is therefore now reduced from 16% to 10%. The CH have a 39% chance of drafting in fourth place, against 10% for each of the first two places and 7% for third place. It is nevertheless a vintage that does not include McDavid, Matthews or MacKinnon. And examples of players drafted fourth overall in recent years? Lucas Raymond (2020), Bowen Byram (2019), Brady Tkachuk (2018), Cale Makar (2017), Jesse Puljujarvi (2016), Mitch Marner (2015), Sam Bennett (2014) and Seth Jones (2013)…