Alexandre Carrier

Last Season

Seven goals and 22 points in 73 games, plus-two, on nineteen minutes a night. Twenty-two points is a career high and seven goals is nearly a third of his career total.

The Finesse Game

Limited but tidy. He moves the puck quickly and simply, rarely holds it under pressure, and does not attempt the play that turns into an odd-man rush the other way. The offence he produced last season was mostly a matter of shooting more than he ever had.

The skating is good, which is the requirement for a defenceman his size. He closes gaps early and defends the rush by taking away time rather than space.

The Physical Game

Five-eleven and 174, and he cannot win a physical contest. He compensates with stick detail and by being in the right lane, and he blocks a lot of shots. Heavy forwards get to the net front through him.

The Intangibles

A fourth-round pick who took years to establish himself and has now been a regular for four seasons across two organisations. Nobody notices him, which for this kind of defenceman is the whole point.

At twenty-nine, on a defence full of young players who will eventually take these minutes, he is the steady presence that makes their development possible.