Canadiens acquire Alexandre Carrier from Predators for Justin Barron

On By Littum

The Montreal Canadiens acquired defenseman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators for defenseman Justin Barron on Wednesday night in a trade that helps the present in Montreal and potentially the future in Nashville.

Carrier, 28, logged 20:08 per night for the Predators, third on the team, and was second in shorthanded ice time per fight and blocked shots. The Canadiens were hoping Barron, 23, could support the right side of their defense this season, but he wasn’t able to find the consistency they needed from him to stay in the lineup every night. Bringing in Carrier, another right-shooting defenseman, should help solve that problem.

The Canadiens had several games this season where they dressed five left-handed defensemen.

Carrier, a native of Quebec City, was most often paired with Jeremy Lauzon on the Predators’ second defense pairing the past two seasons, the same role he will likely play with the Canadiens. While he has scored some points in the past — he had a career-high 30 in 77 games in 2021-22 and had 20 in 73 games last season — he’s primarily a positional defensive defenseman who, at 5-foot-11, won’t overpower opponents .

Carrier was on injured reserve and missed the last four games for the Predators, but he was taken off injured reserve before the trade was completed with the Canadiens.

Carrier has two more seasons left on his contract after this one at $3.75 million per year — not necessarily a hefty price tag for a top-four defenseman, but that period likely would have scared some teams away and probably kept the buyout price down for the Canadiens.

In Barron, the Predators acquire the No. 25 in the 2020 NHL Draft, a player with some offensive upside who still has some work to do with his defensive game. In a 6-1 blowout of the Buffalo Sabers on Tuesday night, Barron got just 13:27 of ice time despite 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 play in his own end has suffered from moments of indecisiveness and a lack of confidence on kill plays, leading to extended shifts in the defensive zone. If he develops that part of his game, he could one day run another power-play unit and provide some pop on a second or more likely third defense pairing.

(Photo by Alexandre Carrier: David Kirouac / Imagn Images)