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Canadiens Instant Analysis: Barron For Carrier Trade Impact

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Montreal Canadiens Hughes

The Montreal Canadiens made a surprising trade prior to the NHL’s Holiday Freeze, which kicks in on Thursday at 11:59 PM ET. Montreal sent defenceman Justin Barron to the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenceman Alexandre Carrier.



The trade puts an end to Barron’s tumultuous time with the Canadiens, which included a respectable amount of offence combined with a frustrating tendency to make the wrong decision at the worst possible time.

Carrier, 28, is much more experienced than Barron, and also happens to be a right-handed shot, an area of weakness in the current blue line setup. He does not possess the same offensive impact as Barron, but prior to 2024-25, which has been a disastrous season for the Predators, his underlying numbers were very solid. Carrier controlled 51.3 percent of the shots, 51.2 percent of the expected goals, and 52 percent of the high-danger shots, as well as scoring four goals and 16 assists in 73 games.

Carrier is currently signed to a three-year contract which is set to expire in 2027, and carries an annual average value of $3.75 million.

The Quebec-native should at the very least provide Martin St-Louis with a much more reliable option on the backend, a luxury he has rarely been afforded since taking over as head coach.

The trade also signals a change in opinion from Montreal Canadiens management, and that’s never a bad thing. Barron was part of one of the first trades made by Hughes, which saw Artturi Lehkonen join the Colorado Avalanche ahead of the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline. The Avalanche also ponied up a second-round pick in the deal, a bargain considering Lehkonen would go on to score the Stanley Cup-winning goal a few months later. It remains to be seen what type of impact Michael Hage will have in the NHL, and his results in the NCAA are absolutely encouraging, but Barron being the centrepiece in the deal was definitely a mistake.

In general, Hughes has gotten fair value in his trades, but the Lehkonen for Barron trade was always a gamble, even if the team was desperate for right-handed reinforcements. Lehkonen was a known value, whereas Barron was yet to show he could stick in the NHL. Fast-forward a few years later, and it’s clear that the Avalanche made the right call in moving on from Barron. And yet, I still have to give some credit to Hughes, who is attempting to mitigate the value lost in the previous deal by avoiding a classic pitfall in the NHL: falling in love with your own players.

The Canadiens could have held onto Barron for another year or two, but given his downward development trajectory, it would have likely led to the asset losing almost all its value. At that point, using Barron to acquire another right-handed defenceman who could immediately absorb minutes in the NHL would have been very difficult,

At the very least, the trade with Nashville goes to show Hughes is not above admitting he made a mistake, while providing his head coach with some much-needed defensive reinforcements. It also opens the door to more movement down the road, but more on that in the morning.


All Montreal Canadiens Statistics Are 5v5 unless otherwise noted. Via Natural Stat Trick.