The Habs Unsung Hero: Alexandre Carrier

In fact, if he can continue to average this amount of blocked shots, it will be more than Savard did last year, who had 2.40 blocks per game. The truth is, Carrier was already a great shot blocker last season when he posted 2.35 blocks per game, but was often overshadowed by the veteran Savard in that category. Without Savard, Carrier has improved his numbers slightly, but not as much as people would think. 

During Tuesday night’s game, Carrier led the way with 4 blocked shots in the Habs’ 4-3 overtime victory against the Seattle Kraken. 

What makes Carrier even better than Savard as a defensive defenseman is that he can do a lot more than block shots, and he skates very smoothly. The fact that he can move pretty seamlessly allows him to be able to join the offense and make it back in time to stop odd-man rushes. Carrier is also an underrated passer. He has quietly put up just under 0.5 points per game while playing on a 3rd pairing so far this season, with a goal and 4 assists in 11 games.

Honestly, he doesn’t even get enough respect as a defensive defenseman this season, as Mike Matheson has emerged as the team’s top guy on the penalty kill. With how good defensively Carrier is, he should probably get more ice time on the penalty kill, as nobody is as good at blocking shots. Therefore, he may be a better option than Noah Dobson on the top penalty kill unit with Matheson. Dobson is a stronger skater and bigger body, but Carrier actually brings more defensive awareness as a defender, so he would likely be better at reading the players on the PK.

It’s possible due to the contract that Dobson has they want to use him as much as possible as long as he’s not a liability, which he hasn’t been so far but if his lack of physicality starts to become an issue, the Habs should consider giving more PK time to Carrier, who has been very solid at both ends of the ice. For now, Carrier is playing a perfect amount of ice time, but he could always play more if he needs to.

Hopefully, Carrier continues to be a quietly great presence for the Habs, because his role on the team really is to just play solid defense and not get noticed a ton during a game. He has played an average of 18:26 and has rarely put the Canadiens in trouble with his play. Every successful team needs a guy like that to be a winner, which is why his acquisition last year helped the Habs so much. This year, because he was already on the team, he sort of fades into the background as a solid defensive presence.

How do you feel Alexandre Carrier has played so far this season?