- Predators re-sign defenseman Justin Barron to a one-year, $1.575 million deal
- The 24-year-old and Nashville avoided a scheduled arbitration hearing
- Read below for how crowded Barron’s spot on the blue line looks in 2026-27
The Predators won’t be arguing about Justin Barron in front of an arbitrator.
Nashville re-signed the 24-year-old defenseman to a one-year, $1.575 million contract for the 2026-27 season, the team announced Monday. Barron had filed for arbitration as a restricted free agent after Nashville tendered a qualifying offer worth around $1.2 million, so the two sides settling before a hearing takes one item off general manager Barry Trotz’s summer to-do list.
Here’s the team confirming the deal:
Barron landed in Nashville about two years ago. Colorado drafted him 25th overall in 2020, and he was skating for Montreal when the Canadiens shipped him to Tennessee in a mid-season swap for Alexandre Carrier.
Staying on the ice has been the problem. Barron lost 16 games to a lower-body injury last December and finished with nine assists, a minus-1 rating and 14:15 of ice time across 52 games. The year before that, he put up five goals and 12 points in 45 games.
The path to more minutes isn’t getting any easier, either. Nashville grabbed Ilya Lyubushkin from Dallas just before free agency opened, and Nicklaus Perbix is already locked into the right side. Barron will have to outplay both to climb the depth chart, and that comes on the heels of a busy Predators offseason that also brought in Mavrik Bourque on a six-year deal.
Barron has never suited up for more than 62 games in a single season. A healthy 2026-27 would give him a real shot to prove he belongs in the top six on the back end. Another year cut short by injury, and he could be a non-tender candidate when this contract runs out.
