Justin Barron is no longer a Canadien.
General manager Kent Hughes announced Wednesday night that he traded the 23-year-old defenceman to the Nashville Predators in exchange for 28-year-old defenceman Alexandre Carrier, a Quebec native.
Carrier, like Barron, is a right-hand shot and the Canadiens lack depth on that side of the blue line.
Barron played 17 games with the Canadiens this season with one goal, no assists and a minus-4 rating while averaging 14:43 of ice time per game. He missed three games due to injury and was a healthy scratch for 11 games.
“I think it’s just staying ready and just trying to take advantage of the shifts I’m out there,” Barron said after Tuesday’s morning skate at the Bell Centre before playing in the Canadiens’ 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. “I’m in a role right now where I just got to be solid defensively and play my role to help the team win games.”
Barron logged 13:27 of ice time against the Sabres in what would be his final game with the Canadiens on the second defence pairing with Kaiden Guhle. Barron had no points in the game and was plus-1. Barron is in the first season of a two-year, US$2.3-million contract with an annual cap hit of US$1.15 million.
Barron had been rotating in and out of the lineup recently with Jayden Struble, who is a left-hand shot. Struble was a healthy scratch against the Sabres.
Hughes acquired Barron from Colorado on March 21, 2022 in a trade that sent forward Artturi Lehkonen to the Avalanche. Barron only played two games with the Avalanche after being selected in the first round (25th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft before being traded to Montreal. In 109 games with the Canadiens, Barron had 13-18-31 totals and was minus-11.
Carrier, who is 5-foot-11 and 174 pounds, played 28 games with the Predators this season, posting 1-6-7 totals and a minus-14 while averaging 20:08 of ice time. The Predators selected him in the fourth round (115th overall) at the 2015 NHL Draft. In 245 career games with the Predators, Carrier had 11-58-69 totals and 143 penalty minutes. He played junior hockey for four seasons with the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques.
Carrier is in the first year of a three-year, US$11.25-million contract with an annual cap hit of US$3.75 million. His agent is Philippe Lecavalier, who used to work with Hughes when the GM was a player agent. Lecavalier is the brother of former NHL player Vincent Lecavalier, who used to be Hughes’s client and is now a special advisor to hockey operations with the Canadiens.
Vincent Lecavalier and Hughes are currently together in Russia checking in on forward Ivan Demidov, the Canadiens’ first-round pick (fifth overall) at this year’s NHL Draft who has 6-14-20 totals in 34 games this season with St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL.
Barron didn’t turn into the defenceman the Canadiens hoped he would become in Montreal.
“We’re going to try to manage him and help him grow into the player I think the organization thinks he can be and I think he’s going to do a lot of talking with his play and his decision-making,” head coach Martin St. Louis said after the Canadiens acquired Barron ahead of the 2022 NHL trade deadline.
“He’s going to get an opportunity here to showcase who he is,” the coach added at the time. “I think his play is going to talk to us. I think for him to come in now and get acclimated and inside the concepts we’re trying to play, I think it helps him for next year. The opportunity he’s going to get here down the stretch is going to help him for next year, but he’s going to have to grab that opportunity and show us what kind of player he can be.”
Barron wasn’t able to grab that opportunity in Montreal and now he’s off to Nashville.
