Jets Prospect Report – February

Barlow is quickly showing that he can be not only a goalscorer but also a playmaker.

“I love it. I think it's an underrated part of my game that doesn't get talked about a lot,” Barlow said.

“But it's nice to know that everybody thinks you're going to have that first-type mentality and it leaves guys open a lot of the time. It's great to have him too.”

Barlow was named offensive captain last season at age 17 and credits his parents, brother and those around him for his leadership qualities.

“My father always told me, 'If you want to play with the big boys.' I have an older brother who is six years older than me. “There was no one around me my age, so I always wanted to play with them,” Barlow said.

“My father said, 'You have to play their way.' I think a lot of it came with a few hits, like learning a certain maturity at a young age.”

This season, Barlow earned a chance to play for Canada at the 2024 World Juniors in Sweden. But in early November, the attack captain suffered an injury, which kept him out of the squad until the end of December.

“I knew I didn't like my team's game at all. It wasn't fun. It was difficult to recover his health. But I always say it's not going to be sunshine and rainbows, at some point in your career you're going to have bumps,” Barlow said.

“So learn from a little trouble and become a better person.” There were many times when I felt great, but the timeline didn't really add up. Especially with my injury, there were a lot of good days and then you have a bad day, right? It's been a back-and-forth battle, but once I find that consistency, I'm excited to be back.”

As mentioned above, the 18-year-old forward is back on offense hoping to make the 2024 OHL playoffs and has scored in six of his last eight games.

MUN NEWS

The Manitoba Moose are in the midst of nine straight games at the Canadian Life Center in Winnipeg. The Jets' AHL affiliate has won four of their last five games, including a 3-2 overtime win at Rockford on Feb. 3. Jeff Mallot moved into a tie for eighth all-time in Moose scoring on Saturday, as he also passed Nolan Baumgartner. most overtime winners with his fifth.