On Tuesday, the Canadiens made a move to shore up their backend by acquiring Alexandre Carrier in exchange for Justin Barron. The Canadiens originally acquired Barron in a trade that sent Artturri Lehkonen to Colorado. Barron, 23, never lived up to his potential in Montreal and was due for a change of scenery. Carrier, 28, adds some much-needed stability to the Canadiens defence now and in the future as he is under contract until 2027. This is the third young defenceman Montreal has traded in the last few months. We also saw Jordan Harris traded for Patrik Laine in the summer and Jonathan Kovacevic shipped to New Jersey before training camp.
Alexandre Carrier Acquisition
Analyzing Carrier versus Barron
With the acquisition of Carrier, the Canadiens give up a bit of size as he stands at only 5’11 in comparison to Barron at 6’2. However, Barron never used his size to his advantage and isn’t regarded as a physical defenceman. Barron is an offensive-minded defenceman who struggles in his own end while Carrier is known more for his defensive game. Interestingly enough, however, Barron has just one point on the year in comparison to Carrier’s seven. Carrier has previously put up 30 points in a season back in 2021-22. Barron’s career-high comes in at 15 in 39 games.
The Canadiens have struggled in their own end this season. Barron has been scratched several times this season already. However, when he was in the lineup, he didn’t help the team defensively. The hope is for the Canadiens that Carrier can shore up some of the defensive deficiencies that we saw in Barron’s game and bring some added stability to the team.
Carrier a Replacement for Savard
Carrier is signed for another three seasons at an annual cap hit of 3.75 million. This is a steep increase from the 1.1 million Barron was making for the next two seasons. However, it is far from a contract that is impossible to move as right-shot defenceman are always a hot commodity. With David Savard coming off the books this year as well, the Canadiens do have some flexibility to absorb Carrier’s cap hit.
Carrier can be viewed as a younger replacement for Savard if he is indeed traded or lost to free agency. Some of the Canadiens young defenceman have been struggling in their development. As a result, the team knows that some veteran presence is still needed, especially if they lose Savard. Carrier fills that gap nicely and they can control him for longer than Savard. If the likes of Logan Mailloux, or David Reinbacher find their stride sooner rather than later, then the team can always trade Carrier as well. He more or less is a stopgap addition as the team waits for its young defense corps to develop.
Where Carrier fits on the Canadiens
As for how Carrier fits into the Current lineup, he likely serves as a bottom-pair defenseman. Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, and Savard currently occupy the top two pairings. This leaves Carrier to slot in alongside Arber Xhekaj on the third pair with Jayden Struble being the extra defenceman. Xhekaj has shored up his defensive game after a rough start to the year but having Carrier instead of Barron on his right will be beneficial for him. It can also allow him to activate more offensively which is something we haven’t seen as much of from him this year.
He could potentially be in line for a bigger role immediately as Savard just returned to the lineup from injury. Carrier will see lots of time on the penalty kill as well. He is no stranger to logging big minutes, as he routinely played over 20 minutes in Nashville. He is expected to join the team in Detroit and make his debut on Friday against the Red Wings.
Main Photo: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
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