The Canadian | These players who want to play in Montreal

(Detroit) Kent Hughes often talks about the importance of getting your hands on players who want to play in the, let’s say, dynamic environment of Montreal. This is exactly what the Habs obtained in the person of Alexandre Carrier.

The Canadiens’ new acquisition met with a quartet of Montreal journalists at the team hotel, where he had arrived just a few minutes earlier. And almost every response was an excuse to express his joy at joining his childhood team.

For example, when he talked about how he learned of the trade that sent Justin Barron to Nashville for his services. Wednesday evening, he had dinner with Anthony Beauvillier, of the Penguins. “Initially, I didn’t realize it. It’s more today, picking my pocket at the arena, greeting my former teammates. That was more emotional. But once the page is turned, you say to yourself: I’m going back home, I’m going to play at the Bell Centre! », recounted the 28-year-old rearguard.

Otherwise, when he looked back on his obstacle course – 4 seasons and 279 games in the American League – before establishing himself in the NHL. “Sometimes, when things weren’t going well, I wondered: Is this going to work at some point? And I said to myself: just give me a game at the Bell Centre. I did it. Now to have the chance to put on the jersey, it’s even more special. »

Not convinced yet? Here he is talking about the Predators’ atrocious start to the season, certainly the disappointment of the year in the NHL. “In a league like that, when there are no results, there are changes. Unfortunately, I was the change. But now I can say: fortunately! »

Words that fit with the unpublished extract from the podcast show Sans restriction recorded in October 2023, which was published by host Kevin Raphaël on Wednesday evening. Carrier explicitly expressed his desire to play in the metropolis.

The segment was never broadcast so as not to embarrass the athlete as he entered the final year of his contract with the Predators.

Difficult season

Despite this desire, Carrier opted for the status quo. The 1^is July, his three-year contract was made official with the Predators. Speaking to NHL.com last summer, he said the deal was finalized on June 29. Once there, a player has inevitably tested the waters elsewhere. At a press briefing Thursday morning, Predators general manager Barry Trotz mentioned that Carrier had “looked at his options.”

Except that last summer, Montreal was full of defenders. Life has changed since June 29, particularly among those who, like Carrier, pull from the right.

• On June 30, the Canadian traded Johnathan Kovacevic to the Devils.
• September 28, David Reinbacher, 1^is team choice in 2023, explodes his left knee in a preparatory match. It is still unclear whether he will be able to return in time by the end of the season.
• On October 30, after five unsuccessful matches, Logan Mailloux was transferred to the Rocket. To this day, he remains stuck in Laval.

Result: the Habs played 12 of their 31 games with five left-handers and one right-hander in the lineup. And many of the other 19 were played with one defender, sometimes two, who could be nicknamed “unreliable” as they were used so sparingly.

“We wanted to know what we had with our young people,” said the Canadiens’ vice-president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton. What we know now is that it’s hard to win with four or five young defenders in the lineup. »

In his press briefing, Barry Trotz also had to clarify that if he trades Carrier, it is not because he regrets the three-year contract, worth $3.75 million annually, that he attributed to him. Carrier, who had never concluded a season with a negative record until now, now displays a -14. “He’ll fit in well with us!” », blurted Gorton, always quick to self-deprecate.

To add to Carrier’s woes, there is this upper body injury, suffered two weeks ago in Ottawa. He hasn’t played since, but says he got the green light this week.

What will the Habs get? A player who calls himself “ultra competitive”, despite being 5’11” and 174 lbs. “I’m not a big guy, as you can see, almost all of you are bigger than me! “, he said, a remark which especially applied, quite honestly, to colleague Patrick Friolet, the mirror cabinet on the cover of the Canadian.

“I’m intelligent, hockey sense is my strength, I block shots and I’m a team guy. I do everything to win, whether it’s blocking shots, playing shorthanded, breaking out of the zone. I put the team forward. »

And, at the risk of repeating myself, a guy who will be happy to put on the white jersey Friday night in Detroit, then his red version the next day at the Bell Center.

“I was told that my grocery stores were going to be quite different, that I was going to be looked at a little more! Not many people know me, even though I’ve been playing in the NHL for a few years. I’ll be able to interact with the fans, do things that I haven’t done often. In Nashville, I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I’ve been recognized. There, I return home, I live next to the Bell Center. I’m not disappointed! »