Colby Barlow

November 2024 – Barlow has eight points (five goals and three assists) in 16 games with the Oshawa Generals to start the 2024-25 season. Mark Henry

October 2024 – The Oshawa Generals acquired Barlow in a trade with Owen Sound Attack on October 3, 2024, for Tristan Delisle, David Bedkowski, and six draft picks. Mark Henry

September 2024 – Barlow will participate with the Winnipeg Jets in the 2024 Young Stars Classic in Penticton, B.C., September 13-16, 2024. Barlow did not attend the Owen Sound Attack 2024 training camp, as rumors circulate that he could be traded to a new team in the Ontario Hockey League if he returns to the OHL after the Winnipeg Jets 2024 training camp. Mark Henry

July 2024 – On July 16, Barlow was invited to Canada’s National Junior Team Summer Showcase, July 28-31, at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario. Then, the team travels to Plymouth, Michigan, to participate in the World Junior Showcase on August 1-3, 2024. Later this year, he hopes to earn a spot on the Canadian roster for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario. Mark Henry

July 2024 – Barlow attended the Winnipeg Jets 2024 Development Camp on July 3-7, 2024. Mark Henry

April 2024 – Barlow, the Winnipeg Jets first-round pick (18th overall) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, was reassigned from the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose on April 7, 2024. Mark Henry

April 2024 – Barlow’s 2023-24 OHL season ended after the Owen Sound Attack fell to the 2024 Memorial Cup host Saginaw Spirit in four games in the first round of the OHL playoffs. During the regular season, Barlow played in 50 games for the Attack; he recorded 58 points (40 goals and 18 assists) and added three points (one goal and two assists) in four postseason games. Mark Henry

December 2023 – Barlow has been out since November 8 with an undisclosed injury, thus missing an opportunity to represent Canada at the 2024 World Junior Hockey Championship. He scored nine goals and five assists in 14 games with the Owen Sound Attack. Mark Henry

September 2023 – Barlow signed a three-year, entry-level contract with an AAV of $1,200,000 with the Winnipeg Jets on September 21, 2023. The 2023 first-round pick (18th overall) attended the Winnipeg Jets’ annual development camp from July 4-8, 2023, before making his Jets debut at the 2023 Young Stars Classic in Penticton, B.C., September 15-18, 2023. Barlow is participating in his first NHL training camp with Winnipeg in preparation for the 2023-24 season. Mark Henry

June 2023 – Barlow has been selected 18th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2023 NHL Draft. Curtis Rines

April 2023 – Barlow was a scoring machine this season, as he scored 46 goals and added 33 assists in 59 games. Had he not missed a handful of games, he easily would have reached the 50-goal mark and been the eighth player this century to do so in their draft season. Barlow has excellent size, is very physically mature for his age, and will probably continue to add weight over the next few years. His season stat line does confirm what we see on tape with Barlow. He is a shooter and is at his best away from the puck, getting in position to finish the play. He can rip the puck, score from range, and crash the net to score dirty goals. Barlow’s game lacks vision and a playmaking element. He’s not an effective puck distributor and prefers to finish plays than start or connect them. Barlow’s simple but effective game should translate well to the NHL, but more in a middle-6 capacity. Unfortunately, if he doesn’t add more creative elements to his game, he may struggle to become a point-producing top-line player since he’s unlikely to get many assists at the next level. Jordan Harris

September 2022 – Colby Barlow was a unique player in the OHL last season, and the same will be true this season. He’s a skilled goalscorer with raw power and an absolute cannon of a shot. That alone will get NHL GMs salivating, and he’s my early bet for a “guy who gets drafted quite a bit earlier than most public boards have him ranked.” This isn’t to say that Barlow shouldn’t be a high draft pick; he most definitely should be, but he lacks the pure skill and upside of the players we have ranked in our preliminary top-10. Despite this, Barlow has a genuine 30-goal NHL upside with the proper development. His shot is absurd. The mechanics aren’t the most refined, but the power he generates on his wrist and snapshots in the blink of an eye is mind-boggling. Barlow doesn’t get into shooting positions by taking calculated off-puck routes and playing inside defenders’ blindspots like Calum Ritchie does. Still, he powers his way to the high slot with or without the puck and unleashes his shot – a habit and ability that awarded him 30 goals in the OHL as a draft-1 player.

Beyond the goalscoring and power, Barlow can achieve impressive speed with some runway. His skating mechanics are upright and inefficient, impacting his acceleration, but his power allows him to hit a high tempo. Defensively, Barlow flashes physical involvement but gets caught puck-watching more than you’d like, and off-puck scanning appears to be a chore that he constantly needs to remind himself to do. Suppose Barlow learns to pass the puck more regularly offensively. In that case, he will be a far more effective player, as his extreme tendency to shoot (and failure to spot open teammates in high-danger areas) limits his effectiveness. Barlow’s tools are very impressive, but he needs a lot of development to round out his game beyond his scoring ability and power. Sebastian High