The Oklahoma City Barons were badly in need of some help on defense, and it looks like they took some action with the addition of Jordan Henry.

Hat tip to Neil Livingston (and Bryan Schamber via twitter) for the information, Neil’s article (and Henry’s tweet) is here. The importance of the addition can’t be overstated, as he should be able to help them in several areas (defense, toughness and hopefully the powerplay).

Henry is a minor league veteran (262 AHL games, 22 ECHL and a season in the KHL) and at 26 would certainly be good enough to play in the Barons top 6D. A guess as to their current depth chart might be:

With Brandon Davidson out long term, Plante struggling to find his way back from concussions/injury and the inexperience of the others in the group, Henry should be a welcome sight for a team that needs calm feet on the backline.

Yes, and the Barons have a ton of them (Schultz, Fedun, Teubert, Plante). Henry is an experienced defenseman with size, grit and a mean streak. There are good things in there. I don’t know a lot about his ability to penalty kill, but would guess he’s had a chance to do it plenty in those AHL games mentioned above.

Handedness aside, this was long overdue. The Barons needed experience and Henry fits the bill. He should provide reliable defense for OKC as long as he’s on the roster.