Before defenseman Alexandre Carrier hears the wedding bells in Montreal this summer his career may take a turn going into next season.
Carrier walked out of his exit meeting with the Nashville Predators organization with roughly seven weeks left on the clock to re-sign. He’s a homegrown Nashville product who has come far since being drafted by the Predators in 2015.
“Yeah, a little bit. I told them I love this group, I love this place having been here since 2015. I want to be back and hopefully, we can make it happen,” Carrier said regarding telling Nashville his aspirations.
The 27-year-old was forthright in admitting there has been a little dialogue between his agent and general manager Barry Trotz earlier this season.
Eleven days after the trade deadline Carrier said he’d been anxious about his future and knew it was part of the business regardless of the decision. Ultimately he remained alongside Jeremy Lauzon on the blue line into the playoffs.
Defenseman Alexandre Carrier speaking to media on locker cleanout day.
As Carrier prepares for the 2024-25 season Carrier emphasized how he wanted to improve his shot after putting up 20 points in 73 games played.
He scored the final goal of the Predators’ season in Game 5 at Vancouver but knew more than anything it was looking up to make an extra move before shooting the puck.
“I’ll focus as much as I can on taking the middle, opening my hips, and try to find better lanes to shoot the puck,” Carrier said. “I’m trying to learn from McDonagh and Josi how they go back for pucks on breakouts. They both do it differently. Josi takes an angle while McDonagh is smart about it while using his body.”
Carrier came out of the season relatively unscathed and hopes to keep that up going into his fourth full NHL season. Speed is something he plans to spend significant time training on this offseason to be more elusive against his opponents.
One caveat to Carrier’s future in Nashville is looking at the depth on defense. Both left-shot defensemen Spencer Stastney and Marc Del Gaizo are restricted free agents but there is interest to return on new deals.
Don’t forget about Tanner Molendyk (19), Jeremy Hanzel (21), and Ryan Ufko (21). They may take more time to mature their game but could certainly challenge for a roster spot on the Predators this fall.
“I think it’s great. You see a guy like Stastney, right off the bat you know he can fly and you want to see him skate all the time,” Carrier said. “I take pride in spending four years in Milwaukee and then coming here and then establishing myself as a player. Every time a guy comes up and anytime I can do something I always try to make them feel comfortable so they know I’ve been through it too. Everyone that came up did a good job, everyone chipped in even if they came to play a few games.”
In March Nashville felt that flipping D-man Graham Sward to the Colorado Avalanche in part of the Yakov Trenin trade for Hanzel was part of the bigger picture.
Hanzel has more upside in the eyes of what the Predators are trying to do systematically under head coach Andrew Brunette’s jurisdiction.
Depending on how soon Trotz and assistant general manager Scott Nichol want these fresh faces up in Nashville, Carrier may not be part of the plan moving forward.
If he is back the Predators will still have a reliant defender who has an established defensive partner in Lauzon who set an NHL record for 383 hits in a single season.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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