The Montreal Canadiens acquired defenseman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators on Wednesday evening for defenseman Justin Barron in a swap that helps the present in Montreal and potentially the future in Nashville.
Carrier, 28, was logging 20:08 per night for the Predators, third on the team, and was second in short-handed ice time per game and blocked shots. The Canadiens were hoping Barron, 23, could shore up the right side of their defense this season, but he was unable to find the consistency they needed from him to stay in the lineup every night. Bringing in Carrier, another right-shot defenseman, should help solve that problem.
The Canadiens have acquired defenseman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Justin Barron.
News release ↓ #GoHabsGohttps://t.co/eQ8yMQDwUp
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 19, 2024
The Canadiens had several games this season in which they dressed five left-shot defensemen.
Carrier, a native of Quebec City, was most commonly paired with Jeremy Lauzon on the Predators’ second defense pairing the past two seasons, the same role he is most likely to play with the Canadiens. Though he has put up some points in the past — he had a career-high 30 in 77 games in 2021-22 and put up 20 in 73 games last season — he is mainly a positionally strong defensive defenseman who, at 5 feet 11, will not overpower opponents.
Carrier was on injured reserve and missed the past four games for the Predators, but he was taken off injured reserve before the trade was finalized with the Canadiens.
Carrier has two more seasons left on his contract after this one at $3.75 million a year — not necessarily a hefty price tag for a top-four defenseman, but that term would have likely scared away some teams and probably kept the acquisition price down for the Canadiens.
In Barron, the Predators are acquiring the No. 25 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, a player with some offensive upside who still has some work to do on his defensive game. In a 6-1 blowout of the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night, Barron got only 13:27 of ice time despite the score being out of reach for half the game. This is the second time in his young career that Barron has been traded; the Canadiens acquired him from the Colorado Avalanche for forward Artturi Lehkonen on March 21, 2022.
Barron is a good skater with a decent shot and strong offensive instincts, but his game in his own end has suffered from moments of indecision and a lack of assertiveness in killing plays, leading to extended shifts in the defensive zone. If he develops that part of his game, he could one day run a second power-play unit and provide some pop on a second or, more likely, third defense pair.
(Photo of Alexandre Carrier: David Kirouac / Imagn Images)
