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Alexandre Carrier

Predators To Recall Spencer Stastney, Alexandre Carrier Out Week-To-Week

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The Predators will recall defenseman Spencer Stastney from AHL Milwaukee while fellow defender Alexandre Carrier is sidelined week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Nick Kieser of Nashville Hockey Now reports. Carrier sustained the injury early in yesterday’s loss to the Wild, skating less than two minutes in the contest. The Predators had two open spots on the 23-man roster and, therefore, do not need to place Carrier on IR to accommodate Stastney’s recall.

After signing a one-year, $2.5MM contract as a restricted free agent in July, Carrier continues to see a more limited role than the top-four duties that earned him a tenth-place Calder Trophy finish in 2021-22. He has, however, been a steady fixture in the lineup. He’s played in all 22 of Nashville’s games thus far after appearing in just 43 out of 82 contests last season. He’s been paired almost equally with Jeremy Lauzon and Ryan McDonagh this year, posting high-quality possession numbers with the latter and posting a goal and eight points.

Stastney, 23, returns to the NHL roster just three days after being returned to the minors. After being cut from the roster during training camp, the Predators recalled Stastney for a two-week stint with the team in late November, playing him in five contests. The 2018 fifth-round pick now has 13 NHL appearances to his name after finishing out last season in the NHL, notching one goal, two assists, and a strong +9 rating in 16:44 of average ice time. The Notre Dame grad, now in his second full season of pro hockey, remains a strong two-way prospect who could convert these early call-ups to an eventual long-term role on the Predators’ second or third pairing.

The Woodbridge, Illinois-born defender will battle depth defenders Dante Fabbro and Luke Schenn for playing opportunities while on the roster, although he projects to serve as a healthy scratch with Carrier as the only injured defenseman. Stastney is in the final season of a two-year, entry-level contract and will be eligible for salary arbitration in the summer.

Nashville Predators Re-Sign Alexandre Carrier

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Per PuckPedia, the Nashville Predators have re-signed RFA defenseman Alexandre Carrier to a one-year, $2.5MM contract for 2023-24. The deal walks him directly to unrestricted free agency next offseason.

Carrier has been a solid contributor on Nashville’s blue line, posting solid two-way numbers and succeeding as a puck-moving defender who has decent smarts. The right-shot defender did take a considerable step back on the scoresheet in 2022-23, though, posting just nine points in 43 games after a 30-point campaign the year prior. The upside he flashed, though, warranted a qualifying offer and an extension from Nashville.

The one-year contract provides an intriguing dynamic for both Carrier and the Predators. Nashville is allowing him to set himself up nicely for a payday as the cap skyrockets up next season if he has another strong campaign, although he may not get much upward mobility in the lineup to have point-producing opportunities, especially with Tyson Barrie in the fold as the team’s main secondary offensive defenseman behind Roman Josi.

West Notes: Sharks, Predators, Steel, Nill, Sale

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The San Jose Sharks just drafted a potential first-line center with the fourth overall pick with Will Smith, and at the draft in Nashville, there are some rumors that the team’s current top-six centers could be on the move. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that “teams have talked to” the Sharks about Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture.

Pagnotta stressed that no trade is close, and it’s worth noting that Hertl has a full no-move clause and Couture has a three-team no-trade list. It’d be a hard trade to complete, but the news that they’re listening on their two top centers signals GM Mike Grier is leaving no stone unturned as he attempts to rebuild San Jose into a playoff contender.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman cites colleague Jeff Marek to report that the two restricted free agents the Nashville Predators will issue qualifying offers are center Cody Glass and defenseman Alexandre Carrier. That means notable players such as 2017 first-round pick Cal Foote and capable defensive winger Rasmus Asplund will hit the open market. It’s somewhat a surprise to see Foote go unqualified, seeing that he was recently acquired as part of the Tanner Jeannot trade and does have a first-round pedigree.
  • Sam Steel won’t be issued a qualifying offer by the Minnesota Wild, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Steel had a decent season with the Wild, scoring 10 goals and 28 points playing at times in the team’s number-one center role. But the Wild could be weary of Steel’s arbitration potential given their dire cap issues, so he’ll now have a chance to hit the open market in a few days.
  • Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill was named the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year, beating out finalists Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers. While Nill’s club didn’t make it to the Stanley Cup Final like Zito’s or go on a historic regular season run like Sweeney’s, Nill’s shrewd moves such as acquiring Max Domi and Evgenii Dadonov during the season helped propel the club to the Western Conference Final.
  • Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that Eduard Sale, the Seattle Kraken’s recent first-round pick, is going to play for the OHL’s Barrie Colts next season. Sale has played the last two seasons in Czechia’s top pro league for Brno Kometa, and now will get the chance to play against his peers in major junior hockey. He’s an exceptionally skilled offensive player, so Colts fans should expect Sale to be among their top scorers if all goes well.

Free Agent Notes: Toews, Compher, Predators

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There will be many free agents that sign within the opening few hours of free agency next Saturday if things play out as they usually do.  However, don’t expect Jonathan Toews to be one of them.  His agent Pat Brisson told Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli that the veteran will not be among those signing when the market opens up as he has yet to decide if he’ll continue playing.  Toews, a veteran of 15 seasons with Chicago, has battled Chronic Immune Response Syndrome in recent years, missing all of 2020-21 plus another extended IR stint this past season.  It was announced previously that he won’t be back with the Blackhawks so Toews will need to decide if he wants to stick it out and try to go somewhere where he’ll have a shot at winning a Stanley Cup or if the time is right to call it a career.  That choice won’t come in the next week.

More free agent news and notes:

  • Even though the Avalanche picked up Ryan Johansen earlier today, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that they haven’t closed the door on re-signing J.T. Compher just yet. The 28-year-old had a career season, picking up 52 points while logging over 20 minutes a night which has him well-positioned to earn a nice raise on the $3.5MM he made on his set-to-expire contract.  The Avs have some flexibility to try to bring him back but if he’s looking for top dollar, it might not make much sense for Colorado to re-sign Compher, especially knowing that Devon Toews is a year away from needing a significant raise of his own.
  • In a recent appearance on 102.5 The Game (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed that none of Nashville’s pending restricted free agents appear to be on the front burner right now. Center Cody Glass and defenseman Alexandre Carrier are the two notable ones for the Predators that have arbitration rights and the filing deadline is July 5th.  Accordingly, while incoming GM Barry Trotz might not be focusing on those two just yet, some discussions for those players will need to be held relatively soon.

Roman Josi Listed As Day-To-Day

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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that Roman Josi is day-to-day after leaving the Nashville Predators 3-2 overtime loss to Winnipeg yesterday. Josi did not make Nashville’s scheduled trip to New York for tonight’s game against the Rangers.

Not much is known about Josi’s injury as he joins a long list of Predators players who are out of the lineup. Nashville is already short on manpower as they are without the services of Ryan Johansen, Juuso Parssinen, Alexandre Carrier, Filip Forsberg, and Ryan McDonagh. Now they will be forced to navigate Josi’s injury as they try and chase down a wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Nashville has struggled to score this season with just 191 goals in 67 games, good enough for 28th in the NHL. Josi’s injury could further complicate matters as he leads the Predators in scoring with 59 points on the season. Despite the offensive struggles, Nashville sits just five points back of Winnipeg for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, with three games in hand.

It seems improbable that Nashville could make the playoffs given the recent injuries as well as the recent trade deadline sell off, but somehow they have hung around, largely due to the play of Josi and goaltender Juuse Saros. Josi has been a horse for the Predators having averaged over 25 minutes of ice time a night. The former Norris Trophy winner hasn’t had the kind of offensive production he enjoyed last season, but he has led a defensive unit that is ranked ninth in the league in goals against.

Injury News: Monahan, Cernak, Carrier, Bjorkstrand

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One veteran that wasn’t on the move yesterday was Canadiens center Sean Monahan.  Speaking at his post-deadline press conference (video link), GM Kent Hughes indicated that the 28-year-old suffered another injury while rehabbing his foot injury, one that has no timeline for a return.  However, it’s possible that he’s able to return this season.  Monahan has been out since early December and was off to a nice start with Montreal with 17 points in his first 25 games.  Unfortunately for him, this extended absence coupled with hip injuries the past two seasons certainly won’t help his cause as he gets set to hit the open market for the first time this summer.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • The Lightning announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Erik Cernak is listed as out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 25-year-old left Thursday’s game early but he did take the warmup prior to today’s contest against Buffalo so it would appear that he won’t be out too long.  Cernak has a goal and ten assists in 53 games so far this season while logging over 19 minutes a night on their back end.
  • Predators defenseman Alexandre Carrier will miss the next four-to-six weeks due to an upper-body injury, notes Alex Daugherty of AtoZ Sports Nashville (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has dealt with multiple upper-body injuries this season with this most recent one being sustained on Thursday against Florida.  A pending restricted free agent, Carrier has just nine points in 43 games this season after putting up 30 in 77 contests in 2021-22.
  • Kraken winger Oliver Bjorkstrand’s return to Columbus last night was shortened as Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times relays that the veteran suffered a lower-body injury in the third period and did not return. No update was available following the game.  Bjorkstrand got off to a slow start this season but has been better since the calendar turned to 2023, collecting 17 points in 28 games since the beginning of January.

Alexandre Carrier Out 4-6 Weeks With Upper-Body Injury

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The Nashville Predators have made a roster move, recalling Kevin Gravel from the Milwaukee Admirals. He arrives following news that Alexandre Carrier will miss four to six weeks with an upper-body injury.

The diminutive Carrier, who never seems to back down from a challenge, decided to take on the 6’7″ Logan Stanley earlier this week, after the Winnipeg Jets defenseman delivered a hard hit on Cody Glass. Unfortunately, it resulted in an injury, one that will keep him out for at least a month.

While he hasn’t been playing quite as much as he did last season, Carrier is still an important part of the Predators group. Through 40 games he has eight points and is averaging a little over 18 minutes a night. Call it a sophomore slump, perhaps, but losing a huge chunk of the season right in the middle of the year certainly won’t help Carrier get back on track.

The Predators can’t really sit around and wait, either. The club has climbed back into the Central Division playoff race and could potentially consider themselves buyers ahead of the upcoming trade deadline. Losing a key defender for the next month could drastically affect that position, even if the Predators do have a number of veteran options who can carry the load.

Gravel, 30, isn’t really that. The big left-shot defenseman is a fringe NHL player at best, suiting up 113 times over parts of six seasons. Four of those appearances have come this year. He’ll likely see some playing time, but don’t be surprised to see the Predators shuffle some things around to try and find the perfect fit in Carrier’s absence.

Nashville Predators Make Several Roster Moves

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After losing Eeli Tolvanen on waivers, the Nashville Predators recalled Kevin Gravel and Roland McKeown to help their bruised and battered defense corps. The team also announced updated timelines for two players with upper-body injuries. Alexandre Carrier will be out week-to-week, while Jeremy Lauzon is now listed as day-to-day.

Adding help on defense is one of the biggest reasons why the Predators were forced to waive Tolvanen in the first place, though neither one of the players coming up should be expected to make a huge impact. Gravel is the more experienced of the two with 109 NHL games under his belt, though his last appearance was in 2019-20. The 6’4″ left-shot defenseman can be a useful penalty-killing option but offers almost no offense, with just one goal and 12 assists in his career.

McKeown, meanwhile has a bit more well-rounded game, though it has landed him only ten NHL appearances so far. The 26-year-old was the 50th overall pick in 2014 and played all ten of those games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2017-18. He is the right-shot that can help replace Carrier, though certainly won’t be able to fill his shoes entirely.

Award Notes: Jim Gregory Award Finalists, All-Rookie Team, All-Star Teams

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While there were five awards handed out on Tuesday, there is still one more to be announced.  That one is the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award.  It’s voted on by all 32 NHL GMs as well as some NHL executives at the end of the second round.  Not surprisingly, all three of the finalists, who were named during the NHL Awards show, were among the four to help lead their teams to the conference finals including Julien BriseBois of the Lightning, Chris Drury of the Rangers, and Joe Sakic of the Avalanche.  Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello won the award a year ago.  The winner for this won’t be announced until partway through the first round of the draft next month in Montreal.

More news from awards night:

Mattias Ekholm Added To COVID Protocol

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When the Nashville Predators take the ice against the Boston Bruins this afternoon they will be missing another one of their cornerstone players. The team has announced that defenseman Mattias Ekholm has been placed into the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol. With forward Filip Forsberg also still on the COVID list, the Predators will be missing two impact players for the foreseeable future.

Ekholm is part of Nashville’s dominant top pair alongside Roman Josi, who each play over 23 minutes of ice time per night. While the second pair of Alexandre Carrier and Dante Fabbro have performed well this season, Ekholm’s absence will be felt, especially if he misses an extended stretch. The Predators have a busy week ahead, starting a stretch of five games in eight days on Saturday, with divisional match-ups against St. Louis and Winnipeg among them. While the Preds have the appearance of a division leader due to total points, their record is in fact fourth in the Central, sandwiched between the Blues and Jets. Ekholm’s stable play in big minutes and critical penalty kill role are not easily replaced, so the Predators will hope he can return to the lineup sooner rather than later.

Nashville did get one name back from the COVID Protocol though and that is forward Yakov Trenin. The physical winger has cleared the protocol’s requirement and is back in the lineup on Saturday. Trenin is fifth among Predators forwards with nine goals this season and in the top ten in points too, well on his way to a career year.

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