2. Alexandre Carrier, UFA in 2024
Teams looking for either a short term rental to boost their defensive depth for the playoffs, or even a team looking to re-sign a player quickly for moderately cheap should be interested in Alexandre Carrier.
Carrier has been overlooked in terms of being a trade piece for the Predators, but the thought of this happening has increased for me lately. How satisfied is Trotz with the defensive prospect pool to be willing to deal Carrier? That's the question at hand.
If the Predators are to re-sign Carrier this offseason, he should come relatively inexpensive, but should get at least a small price bump from his current $2.5 million AAV. Is it worth the risk of going to the offseason without a deal already in place for Carrier? Definitely not.
So unless Trotz is absolutely certain Carrier wants to stay in Nashville and that they can make the numbers work for a new contract before the offseason gets here, then you have to explore trading the 27-year-old defenseman.
I'm not sure what Carrier would fetch at the trade deadline, but a mid-round draft pick seems like a fair starting point. I would push for a prospect in return as well because after all, you're sending the other team a proven NHL starter who can be a top-four defenseman with upside.
If there is little interest in Carrier that suits Trotz's needs, then you immediately need to find ways to get Carrier re-signed for another bargain type of deal and hope he takes the next step forward in 2024-25.