The acquisition of a defender with the profile of Alexandre Carrier had become necessary

Barry Trotz, the general manager of the Nashville Predators, threatened a few weeks ago to make a wave of changes if things did not improve within his team. Wednesday evening, he found his newest business partner in the Canadian.

The CH acquired Quebec defender Alexandre Carrier in return for Justin Barron, an exchange which will immediately improve the Canadian’s blue line at a price which was far from exorbitant. Meanwhile, the Predators are reducing their salary package, having invested large sums this summer only to see the team collapse and occupy last place in the general standings.

Given the presence of Lane Hutson and Mike Matheson, finding an offensive defenseman was not a priority for the Canadian. On the other hand, finding an experienced right-handed defender capable of facing the best opposing players and capable of lightening David Savard’s task was necessary now. It was also necessary in the longer term as the organization would certainly prefer not to put itself in a position where it would have to rush the arrival and responsibilities of young right-handers like Logan Mailloux or David Reinbacher.

In this sense, Carrier, who is 28 years old, ticks several boxes for the Habs.

He is a very mobile guard who has a good shot, but whose understanding of the game mainly serves him defensively, being able to block passes and harpoon the puck effectively. According to the PuckIQ site, he was once again this year the Predators defenseman who most often faced elite-level competition.

In addition, Carrier is employed on a numerical inferiority and he blocks many shots.

People may raise eyebrows when they note that he is only 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) tall and weighs 79 kg (174 lbs), which makes him a defenseman well below league average in template terms.

But measurements don’t tell everything.

I don’t care about size if the player is combative like Carrier is, head coach Andrew Brunette told us during last spring’s playoffs. He sacrifices his body, he’s mobile and he’s an extremely competitive kid. If someone said he wasn’t built for the playoffs, I would totally disagree. It is tailor-made for the series.

Barron still had value

It was obvious that the Canadian had a deficiency on the right flank of his defense. He often had to ask more than one left-hander to play on the opposite side, which is far from ideal. Carrier comes to solve part of this equation and bring today a dose of certainty to the way in which the defensive brigade is designed.

Waiting until the summer and submitting an offer to a free agent would have been a risky bet for the Habs, because there will be few right-handed defenders available, even fewer among those capable of giving 19 or 20 minutes per game.

In addition, Carrier’s $3.75 million per year contract will be in effect for two more seasons after this one. This is an ideal duration from the Canadian’s perspective, because it ensures a smooth transition between a Savard in decline and hopefuls who will still have a little time to make their grades.

As for Barron, his progression curve has not been what management would have hoped for when they acquired him from the Colorado Avalanche in 2022 and saw in him a mobile guard and a premier passer. plan.

Struggling with inconsistent confidence, Barron has struggled to develop other strengths to make himself more indispensable, but becoming more difficult to face and consistently playing with conviction are still goals to be achieved in his case. .

Barron struggled to put together good performances. In uniform in a fourth straight game on Tuesday, he played only 13:28 in the 6-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Martin St-Louis waited until the third period and a moment when the game was out of reach of the Sabers to use him more, which reflects the reluctance that persisted with his play.

This exchange also sheds new light on management’s decision to keep Barron in Montreal at the start of the season in order to avoid losing him on waivers. If the Predators agreed to get rid of Carrier to acquire him and try to revive him, another team would have made a similar bet by claiming him on waivers.

Obviously Barron still had value.

Carrier missed the last four games with an upper-body injury, but the Predators took him off injured reserve shortly before the trade went through. He will join the Canadian in Detroit, where he faces the Red Wings on Friday.