2023-24 Trade Bait: Alexandre Carrier
2023-24 Trade Bait: Alexandre Carrier
An under-the-radar RD option to get you over the hump
Should cooler heads prevail for the scorching-hot Nashville Predators? With a few expiring contracts on a roster that doesn’t appear championship-ready, GM Barry Trotz may ultimately approach the March 8 deadline favoring futures over slim odds in the postseason.
In this scenario, Alexandre Carrier would soar up many teams’ trade boards. Steady right-shooting defensemen are in high demand, and following recent moves around the league, the 27-year-old is the top option at the position.
Here’s how the pending UFA can turn your blue line into a well-oiled machine.
Gap Control
Carrier understands that the best defense is not dawdling in the DZ at all. Despite boasting neither the size (5’11”, 174 lbs) nor skating (below-average top speed) to trouble attackers in space, he still drags Nashville’s back end halfway up the ice to nip offensive designs in the bud.
That may sound like a risky proposition, but an old boxing adage encapsulates his game: “Precision beats power, timing beats speed.” Thanks to his processor, he accurately gauges his gap and reaches his spot well before the opposition can enter full flight.
This is a player (NSH 45) who dictates engagements by arriving to the party first:
As you can see, Carrier isn’t content to brace for impact. The pesky blueliner plays on his toes and brings the fight to your front door. With that said, don’t mistake his assertiveness for recklessness. Instead of charging at puck-carriers haphazardly, he leaves nothing to chance, scoping out his surroundings in order to determine his level of support (sag vs. stand up), his optimal angle (backskate vs. surf), etc.
It could be the boards or his own teammates. Regardless, he weaponizes his help.
Although his physical gifts are unspectacular, he does display nice short-area burst and fluidity. Combined with his IQ, that means he’s always…right there. Always in your hip pocket. Always prepared for whatever you have up your sleeve. After a while, that constant presence can squeeze the life out of you.
Watch him suffocate Colorado’s breakout:
He opens this sequence by shading left, effectively luring the puck toward the right side of the ice. Once Artturi Lehkonen (COL 62) obliges, Carrier pounces, chasing the winger laterally to re-route him straight into the grasp of a waiting Predator. He then peels off in anticipation of a dump-in, gets a piece of the puck and the Avalanche’s controlled exit amounts to a Nashville reset.
That’s how you grind transition to a screeching halt. That’s also how you can mask your own team’s defensive issues:
At 5-on-5, Carrier spends just 37.6% of his TOI in the DZ (comfortably below the league average of 41.2%) and concedes the fewest shot attempts of any Predators blueliner. In other words, Nashville is either on equal footing or tilting the rink toward the opposition’s cage.
It’s tough to notice the cracks when you stay clear of their breeding ground.
In-Zone Defense
While Carrier busts his ass off to avoid the DZ as much as possible, it isn’t because he’s afraid of Nashville’s end. He can handle his business there too.
In both puck pursuit and coverage, the defenseman gives off Jared Spurgeon Lite vibes—undersized, uber-competitive, utterly annoying to play against. Not that different from his showings in the NZ. At the heart of his craft lies a focus on identifying and denying your biggest threat. He has a nose for detecting the point of attack, and he’ll snuff it out by any means necessary.
He basically lives to kill your Plan A:
Carrier isn’t quite an elite defender, but he possesses many of the traits associated with that title. Smart angles, an active stick, keen play recognition, a willingness to duke it out in the trenches. He’s a versatile and gritty roadblock who stiffens his spine in all situations.
If you’re zooming down the wall, he’ll match your tempo and wrestle the puck line away from you. If you’re loading up a shot or eyeing an incisive pass, he’ll fire his stick into the frame at the last second to thwart your aim.
Most importantly for a playoff-bound club, he’s a surprisingly stout net-front guardian, pairing ice-cold discipline with a fiery work rate around the net:
In a duel vs. 6’3”, 212-pounder Roope Hintz (DAL 24), Carrier digs his heels in to keep the forward at bay and provide his goaltender with sightline flexibility. He then realizes that a point shot is heading toward Hintz’s forehand, so he diverts his attention to the center’s inside shoulder and lifts his stick to quash the possibility of a deflection.
He isn’t idling next to his mark here. He stays busy, proactively hunting and hampering Dallas’ next move.
Carrier is unyielding on the PK as well:
If you’ve been tuning into the games, you’re aware that the bumper setup has become a staple of modern PPs. Carrier certainly seems familiar with the wrinkle. Observe his stick placement as Connor Zary (CGY 47) initiates the high-low action with Elias Lindholm (CGY 28). His blade doesn’t veer toward the latter—thereby opening a lane to Nazem Kadri (CGY 91)—for a millisecond.
Most defensemen can’t resist the temptation to contest that goal-line touch. I mean, there’s a reason Sam Reinhart has 7 billion PP goals this year. Carrier, for his part, is fixated on erasing Kadri from the equation. A prime example of his emphasis on clocking, prioritizing and extinguishing your most potent weapon.
This net-front solidity has translated to sterling underlying numbers in the face of fierce competition:
On a club that features Ryan McDonagh, it’s Carrier who’s absorbing the most difficult minutes—and he’s thriving in them. Not only is his ability to muzzle star players worth its weight in gold, but it softens matchups and deployment for your other blueliners too.
Simply put, he hunkers down to grant the rest of the defense a leg up.
Even with teams pulling names like Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Sean Walker off the trade table, Carrier is far from the sexiest entry available. He could prove more useful than those three players nonetheless.
In transition and around the goalmouth, he offers the kind of elbow grease that’s indispensable to a long playoff run.