As the Montreal Canadiens enjoy their finest stretch of hockey this season (six wins in seven matches), it’s interesting to note that the organization performed a transaction just before it started. Based on current performances, the deal appears to have provided some key stability. As some may have guessed, we’re referring to the acquisition of defenceman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Justin Barron. How has he helped and why is the trade turning out so well? Let’s discuss.
Carrier Fills Canadiens’ Gap on Defence
As the old expression goes, hindsight is 20/20. In mid-December, the club was floundering in the Atlantic Division. The conversation surrounding the recently traded Barron was that he was not fitting in the way the team needed him to. Excuses about the roster’s relative youth and inexperience can only hold so much water. Sooner or later, positive results need to be put up on the board.
Even after the run of victories Montreal has earned, they’re no better than 16th in the NHL regarding total shots against (1,085). They still have a minus-14 goal differential, the sixth-worst expected goals against (83.97), and third-worst high-danger shots against (98). Again, those numbers include the late December wins.
So if it wasn’t working with Barron (not well enough, let’s say), then it’s understandable that general manager (GM) Kent Hughes and executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton would shop around for a better fit. But the devil is in the details. Much ink had been spilled about the lack of right-handed shots on the Canadiens’ blue line. Even after acquiring the 28-year-old Carrier, the roster only includes two regulars, the other being David Savard, who himself is the subject of trade chatter.
Still, it is better to have a right-handed defender who head coach Martin St. Louis knows he can fully trust on a nightly basis, save for injuries.
Gorton even acknowledged that the desire for another day-to-day right shot on the backend was on their minds when speaking to the press shortly after the club pulled the trigger.
“I think you can see it a lot with our team. A lot of nights, we have six left-handed defencemen. It’s difficult, especially for young guys breaking into the league. We’re asking a lot of them; to switch over and be able to play both.”
A Local Product Fulfilling a Dream
There are intangibles when it comes to constructing a successful sports franchise. One can look at a player’s statistics and their professional experience when mulling over a trade. Those naturally come first, but to suggest that things like “character” and background don’t play a role in trades like this would be disingenuous.
Not only has the team praised Carrier for his personality, most notably Gorton in the aforementioned interview, but the seven-year veteran is a Quebec native. More specifically, he’s from the provincial capital of Quebec City. For some who remember the old Quebec Nordiques days, one might scoff at the thought of a Quebec City native admiring the Canadiens, but it would appear that’s the case with Carrier. It’s important to keep in mind that he was born in 1996, a full year after the franchise moved to Colorado and rebranded as the Avalanche.
That counts for something. Without getting into cultural politics, Habs fans like it when someone from the region adorns the club’s colours. The cheer at the Bell Centre when Samuel Montembeault is announced as the starting goalie is just a bit louder. The local French-language media have someone they can talk to without translations and subtitling. There have been stories that ended poorly, such as Jonathan Drouin’s controversial stint, but knowing that Carrier wants to be in Montreal is very delicious icing on the cake.
Early Dividends Paying Off
The whole point of this article would be moot if Carrier was playing terrible hockey, and the Canadiens unimaginably performed worse after his arrival. Thankfully, quite the opposite has transpired.
On a macro level, Montreal is 5-1-0 in the six contests the blueliner has dressed for. Although the defeat to the Columbus Blue Jackets was a stinker (5-4), they’ve only conceded eight goals in the six wins. Amazingly, they have a plus-12 goal differential during that stretch.
Related: Canadiens Should No Longer Be Just Sellers at This Year’s Trade Deadline
Carrier himself is being used to his full potential, logging 19:40 of ice time on average. What’s more, he has already registered four points via assists and has a plus-2 rating.
Diving into the highly detailed numbers crunched by Natural Stat Trick, his main partner has been Kaiden Guhle, with whom he’s skated for 91:21 during 5-on-5 hockey. Their Corsi is 52.87%, their Fenwick is 54.55%, and the expected goals against (xGA) is 2.67. Consider that when Guhle played with Barron (for 64:07), the xGA was 3.91. Interesting food for thought.
Carrier has not been utilized much on the power play so far. However, the same pair have spent 8:34 killing penalties together and not only has the xGA been an impressively low 0.45, but they’ve also been on the ice for a short-handed goal.
Six games is a finite sample size, but those figures aren’t making anyone second-guess the trade. Is the Quebecois’ presence really providing Montreal with the requisite boost to embark on this pleasant string? Causation or correlation? You decide. But at times like these, it hardly matters. As a famous former NFL head coach once said: “You play to WIN THE GAME!” The point is Carrier is doing his part to contribute to the Canadiens’ success.
