The contract is what I hate about this deal.
With the cap rising so much next year, and likely the year after that too, Carrier's contract is the least of Montreal's problems.
And this trade is a good one for both teams. Both Carrier and Barron needed a change of scenery, and both teams needed different things.
Montreal needs more veteran presence on their blueline to help insulate their young guys, moreso considering that the writing is on the wall regarding Savard's fate at the trade deadline, and potentially Matheson's too if some rumor-mongers are to be believed.
Carrier has had a rough 2024-2025, alongside most of the Predators' players, but he is still good defensively, disrupts passing lanes well, and will be a very responsible 3rd-pairing right defenseman for the length of his contract with the Canadiens.
Maybe with the change of scenery Carrier regains some of his magic from 2021-2022. He could also fail to make an impact and crater completely, but to the Canadiens the risk is minimal considering they still have a lot of prospects coming through their defensive pipeline in the coming years to offset the loss of a not-developing Barron, and more than enough cap space to go around.
Nashville on the other hand just wanted more cap flexibility and to shed a somewhat disgruntled player's salary.
They also do well in this trade by acquiring a much-younger defenseman than Carrier with a lot of nice tools in Barron, but also one who hasn't improved much at all in the last 2 years. Thing is that Barron is still very young and could end up being much better down the line than he currently is.
So yeah, I actually think this trade is nice for both teams with more potential on the Predators' front for the trade to end up a winning one.
EDIT:
Was it this summer Habs fans wanted a high draft pick for Barron? A 1st or 2nd I believe and now he’s traded for a depth defenceman.
This Summer the most people asked for Barron would have been a 2nd.
The time where Barron's value was at its highest was in the Summer of 2023, after a very good rookie year.
Thing is that Barron didn't develop much after that rookie season and so his value progressively got worse until he was just now traded for Carrier.