Nashville Predators trade defensemen, send Alexandre Carrier to Montreal for Justin Barron

The Nashville Predators has acted as a defender Alexander Carrier to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Justin Barron.

A one-on-one defensive exchange, move saves Predator some cap space while also getting younger on the blue line.

Carrier, 28, was a fourth-round draft pick of the Predators in 2015. After making his NHL debut in 2017, he played 245 games for Nashville over seven seasons. He scored 11 goals and 58 assists in that time, but his primary role was on the penalty kill, where he excelled the past few seasons.

After some speculation that he would be traded at the February deadline, Carrier signed a three-year, $11.25 million contract on July 1. He will be a free agent in 2027.

Barron, 23, was a first-round pick by Colorado in 2020, then was traded to Montreal in 2022 along with a second-round pick in exchange for forward Artturi Lehkonen. In 111 games, Barron has 13 goals, 18 assists and 132 hits.

A 6-foot-2, 201-pound right-shot defenseman, Barron has some offensive upside. He has a decent shot and can skate well both ways. As a younger, cost-controlled player, he will likely compete with the likes of Nick Blankenburg, Spencer Stastney and Ryan Ufko for playing time in the future.

Barron signed a two-year, $2.3 million contract on July 30 and will be a restricted free agent in 2026.

By trading Carrier’s $3.75 million annual cap hit for Barron’s $1.15 million cap hit, the Predators save $2.6 million in cap room over the next two seasons.

Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Predators trade Alexandre Carrier to Canadiens for Justin Barron