I can officially say that this is the most eventful NHL holiday roster freeze I’ve ever witnessed. This is the third trade tonight– former second-overall pick Kaapo Kakko was sent from the Rangers to the Kraken, and the Penguins re-acquired P.O Joseph– and the freeze doesn’t take effect until midnight tomorrow.
The Montreal Canadiens have acquired top-four defensive defenseman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators. In exchange, the Predators receive Justin Barron, a former first-round pick. Here are my grades for how each team fared in this trade:
Montreal’s Grade: B
There are two ways to look at this. On one hand, I would say that Montreal handedly won this trade. Alexandre Carrier was drafted by Nashville in the fourth-round of the 2015 NHL draft. He played 245 NHL games in a Predators sweater, and accumulated 69 points. He’s a top-four defenseman who’s rock-solid defensively. Carrier signed a contract extension with the Predators in the offseason, and he will make $3.75 million through the 2026-27 season.
But does he fit into Montreal’s timeline? The Canadiens currently sit seven points out of a playoff spot, and likely aren’t making the postseason this year. Adding a defensive defenseman will improve their chances next season, and it doesn’t hurt that Carrier is on a cheap contract.
Nashville’s Grade: D
So, here’s what the Predators got. The Colorado Avalanche selected Barron in the second-round of the 2020 NHL draft, but traded him to Montreal at the Trade Deadline in 2022. Barron is an offensive-minded defenseman, and has 31 points in 111 NHL games. He signed a contract extension with Montreal in the offseason, and will make $1.15 million a year through the end of the 2025-26 season.
Oy. I’m just not sure what Nashville is doing. Justin Barron was a first-round draft pick, but he doesn’t appear to have a very high ceiling and Alexandre Carrier is the better player. Even if Nashville was just looking to shed salary, they should’ve gotten more back from Carrier. In the present, a one-for-one swap doesn’t look great. The Predators have the worst record in the league, and I’m not so sure that that’s going to change anytime soon.
