The Habs have made a swap to shake things up on the back end. The team announced that they’ve traded Justin Barron to Nashville in exchange for Alexandre Carrier.
Carrier is in his fourth full NHL season after a solid rookie year in 2021-22 that saw him make the All-Rookie Team. However, he hasn’t been able to play at that level since then, seeing his stock go from an impactful top-four piece with some upside to one that is viewed as more of a fourth or fifth option in an ideal situation.
Of course, Montreal’s back end is far from an ideal situation and it’s fair to say that Carrier will have a pretty prominent role with them. The 28-year-old has played in 28 games so far this season, recording a goal and six assists along with 49 blocked shots and 31 hits while averaging just over 20 minutes per game, a mark that would put him fourth on the time behind Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, and Kaiden Guhle.
Carrier is in the first season of a three-year contract that carries a $3.75 million cap hit. He’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2027. While he has missed the last few games with an upper-body injury, he has been cleared to return.
As for Barron, he was expected to be a key piece on Montreal’s present and future defence corps after he was acquired at the 2022 trade deadline as part of the Artturi Lehkonen trade. But things just didn’t go as planned on that front.
While Barron showed flashes of upside – particularly in the second half last season – he found himself out of the lineup almost as much as he was in it this season. He has played in just 17 games so far and only has one point – a goal – while his playing time dipped below 15 minutes a night. Had he remained with Montreal in that role, his trade value was only going to decline so it’s encouraging to see GM Kent Hughes at least be able to acquire an NHL-level asset for him.
Barron is in the first season of a two-year, $2.3 million bridge deal. With the Habs adding $2.6 million to their books in this swap, it’s going to be considerably more difficult for them to exit LTIR this season, barring them moving out several veterans closer to the trade deadline without taking any contracts back.
While it might seem strange for a rebuilding team to move a 23-year-old blueliner who was a former first-round pick, this move fills an important medium-term need for the Canadiens. David Savard is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer and he was the only veteran on the right side of Montreal’s back end. Carrier’s addition now ensures that they’ll have one proven piece on the right for a couple more years while Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher continue their development.
