The Detroit Red Wings have inked one of their collegiate prospects, signing Seth Barton to a two-year entry-level contract. The deal will begin with the 2021-22 season, meaning Barton cannot play for Detroit down the stretch this year.
Coming off his junior season with UMass-Lowell, the 21-year-old Barton is ready to take the next step into professional hockey. Originally selected 81st overall in 2018 he has been a competent two-way defender for the River Hawks for some time now and scored 11 points in 20 games this season.
As the release notes, Barton was selected with the third-round pick the Red Wings received in a trade for Petr Mrazek. That’s a trade the Philadelphia Flyers would certainly not do again, given how poor Mrazek played for them down the stretch in 2017-18. The Flyers actually let the goaltender go without a qualifying offer, meaning that draft pick was spent on almost nothing. Now, as he enters the Red Wings development system, Barton has a chance to show exactly what the Flyers and every other team missed by letting him fall to the end of the third round.