
According to Rogers Sportsnet on Wednesday, the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators made a trade involving Canadian defensemen. The Predators traded defenseman Alexandre Carrier of Quebec City, Quebec to the Canadiens for defenseman Justin Barron of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Carrier is joining his second NHL team after seven seasons with the Predators. In 2024-25, Carrier has one goal and six assists for seven points. He is a -14 with 12 penalty minutes, one shorthanded point, 23 shots on goal, 49 blocked shots, 31 hits, 13 takeaways, and 26 giveaways.
Carrier’s goal and shorthanded point came in Predators’s wins. The shorthanded point was an assist on a goal by Gustav Nyquist in a 3-2 Predators win over the Chicago Blackhawks on October 25. At the time, Carrier tied the game at two with three minutes and one second left in the second period. The goal came from rookie Zachary L’Heureux of Montreal, Quebec in a 4-3 Predators win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. At the time, Carrier tied the game at three at 4:09 of the third period.
In 2023-24, Carrier had four goals and 16 assists for 20 points in 73 games. He was a +7 with 44 penalty minutes, one power-play point, one shorthanded point, two game-winning goals, 77 shots on goal, 137 blocked shots, 60 hits, 16 takeaways and 22 giveaways.
Carrier’s power-play point was a power play assist and came in a 5-1 Predators win over the San Jose Sharks on October 21, 2023. Carrier set up Samuel Fagemo with two minutes and 45 seconds left in the first period. Carrier’s first game-winning goal last season was on November 22, 2023. Carrier scored an unassisted marker at 11:56 of the third period in a 4-2 Predators win over the Calgary Flames. At the time, the Predators went up 3-1. Carrier’s second game-winning goal last season was on January 13, 2024. He scored from defenseman Jeremy Lauzon of Val d’Or, Quebec and Filip Forsberg with eight seconds left in the game to give the Predators a 2-1 lead in a 3-1 Nashville win over the New York Islanders.
Carrier also scored a game-winning goal in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. It came in game five of the first round, a 2-1 Nashville win over the Vancouver Canucks on April 30. Carrier scored from Nyquist and Forsberg with seven minutes and 14 seconds left in the third period to break a 1-1 tie.
Barron is joining his third NHL team. He played one season with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021 to 22, before four seasons with the Canadiens from 2022 to 2025. In 17 games this season, Barron has one goal for one point. He is a -4 with eight penalty minutes, 16 shots on goal, 20 blocked shots, 17 hits, four takeaways, and eight giveaways.
In 2023-24, Barron had seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 48 games. He was a -3 with 16 penalty minutes, one power-play point, one game-winning goal, 60 shots on goal, 59 blocked shots, 61 hits, six takeaways and 33 giveaways. Barron’s only power-play point was a power-play goal, and was also the game-winning goal in a 3-2 Canadiens win over the Winnipeg Jets on December 18, 2023. Barron scored from Nick Suzuki of London, Ontario and Cole Caufield at 1:09 of overtime.