The Wraparound panel discusses if Patrik Laine can get back to his former form The Montreal Canadiens had long been rumoured to be looking for an experienced right-shot top four defenseman and last night, Kent Hughes finally made a deal to address that gaping hole in his roster. Last off-season, Hughes moved right-shot defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic to the New Jersey Devils, more than likely because the organization figured it would need to make room for Logan Maillhoux and David Reinbacher sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. The Canadiens were dealt a big blow when Reinbached suffered a serious knee injury that ruled him out for most of the season if not all of it and Mailloux turned out not to be ready. As a result, the Canadiens were left with only two right-shot defensemen on the roster, veteran David Savard and waiver exempt 23-year-old Justin Barron. While Savard has proved himself to be a great asset to the team over the years, he has slowed down this season and cannot handle has high a workload. He averages 18:50 of ice time so far this year while he was never below 20 minutes in the last three campaigns. As for Barron, he was signed to a two-year deal this Summer because the organization couldn't be sure he would be part of their core long-term. He failed to established himself as an NHLer since being acquired from Colorado, and had he been waiver exempt, he could have found himself in Laval with the Rocket again this year. While it was his puck-moving and offensive instinct that made the Canadiens trade Artturi Lehkonen for him in the early days of the Gorton-Hughes era, his struggles have led to a loss of confidence that has translated to just one point (a goal) in 17 games this season. That trade is not looking great so far, but thankfully, the second-round pick obtained from the Colorado Avalanche in the deal was used to acquire the first-round pick with which Montreal selected Michael Hage at the last draft. As a result, the Canadiens had to use three left-shot blueliners on their off side this year so far; Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle and Jayden Struble. In other words, something had to be done, and the trade shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, we had mentioned the possibility of Barron becoming a trade token when he signed his contract in the Summer. Last night, the Canadiens announced they had sent Barron to the Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-news/nashville-predators-trade-alexandre-carrier-to-montreal-canadiens-for-justin-barron] for right-shot defenseman Alexandre Carrier, a Quebec City native who had established himself as a reliable rearguard in Tennessee. The newcomer is in the first year of a three-year pact with a $3.75 M cap hit. While he doesn't come with a first-round pedigree like Barron did, he was drafted 115th overall in the fourth-round of the 2015 draft, he is an experienced player which will bring both confidence and stability to the Canadiens' defensive corps. At 5-foot-11 and 174 pounds, he's not big, but his size does not make him any less reliable. Over 245 NHL games, Carrier has put up 11 goals and 58 assists for 69 points picking 143 penalty minutes in the process and has never finished an NHL season in the minus. This year, he was minus-14 in 28 games on a struggling Nashville outfit and had gathered a goal and six assists. He spent time on the injured reserved list of late because of an upper body ailment. According to the Canadiens' communications department, he has been activated shortly before the trade and is now ready to return to action. Carrier will be joining the Canadiens in Detroit tonight around 17:00 and a Zoom call should be set up in the evening to introduce him to the press. Watch this space for all details. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains] Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens
