William Carrier has become a reliable fourth-line grinder for the Vegas Golden Knights and he carved out a career-year in 2018-19.
William Carrier: Grade C+
Our 2018-19 Vegas Golden Knights Report Cards continue today as we turn the magnifying glass on William Carrier who has developed into a solid role player for this franchise.
His Season
William Carrier knows what he is by this point of his career and while he’s more of a reliable SUV than a top-of-the range Rolls Royce, he’s become an instrumental part of this Vegas Golden Knights team.
Taken by the Knights in the 2017 Expansion Draft after being left exposed by the Buffalo Sabres, Carrier found a role on the bottom line in 2017-18 and tallied one goal and two assists for three points in 37 regular season games. He also featured in 10 postseason contests as Vegas made it to the Stanley Cup Final, although he was held without a point in those games and missed most of the last two rounds with an undisclosed injury.
He came into 2018-19 looking to build on the year before and he certainly achieved that particular mission after putting together a career year in a number of categories both offensively and defensively.
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Logging on average 9:57 minutes of ice time per night, Carrier posted career-highs in games played (54), goals (8), points (9), PIM (29) and shots on goal (85). He had one assist as well but proved that he can provide secondary scoring while playing bottom line minutes.
Perhaps most impressive, however, were Carrier’s stats in the defensive zone. He finished the year with career-highs in blocked shots (13), hits (277) and takeaways (31), while he only coughed up 10 giveaways. It is important to note that the left-wing dished out a gigantic 164 hits more than he did the year before.
Carrier also featured in all seven of the Golden Knights’ postseason games against the San Jose Sharks, being held without a point and posting a plus/minus rating of -1. He was used sparingly in the playoffs having only been given on average 8:52 minutes of ice time per game.
Throughout the year Carrier forged a strong relationship with Ryan Reaves and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, with the trio playing together on a fourth line for 69.24 percent of the season. Although Bellemare is now a member of the Avalanche, expect Carrier and Reaves to form the backbone of that hugely instrumental and effective bottom line next year.
At 6’2″, 212 lb, Carrier is a human battering ram and, along with Reaves, has no hesitation when it comes to laying the body on, hitting like an absolute train and leaving a hell of a mark on the opposition. He brings a bucketload of grit, tenacity and snarl to the table and those are still valuable commodities in today’s NHL.
With just one-year left on his current deal that carries a cap hit of $725,000, Carrier is entering a contract year and he’ll have motivation to put up career numbers for the second consecutive season to either win a new contract in Sin City or elsewhere in the NHL.