Why The Grade
William Carrier is a fourth-line grinder who won’t do anything fancy and he won’t go and get you 20 points every year. But, what he will do is disrupt the opposition’s flow, put his body on the line and he will provide some secondary scoring.
As such, and considering both the stats and the eye test here, Carrier’s C+ grade is fair given that he put up career numbers in both the offensive and defensive zone. In-fact, his offensive production won’t get the attention, but his 277 hits certainly deserve a lot of the plaudits.
You may as well start calling Vegas’ bottom line the ‘Boom Line’ given the fact that Carrier and Reaves combined for a stunning 582 hits in 2018-19, which is quite simply a jaw-dropping stat and sums up both players’ importance to this team.
What Carrier lacks in flair and productivity he more than makes up for in grit and toughness and, at 24-years-old, the rugged forward will only get better and grow into his role more. Plus, he has plenty of time to iron out any kinks in his game, work on other areas and continue to learn his craft.
And that brings us on to one major positive from last year. After scoring just one goal the year before, Carrier found a scoring touch in 2018-19 after tallying eight tucks to set a new career-high. The Golden Knights will be hoping that there is more to come from the left-shot and he could benefit from having Tomas Nosek as his pivot next year.
The 57th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft showed plenty of signs of improvement in 2018-19 and his role on this team cannot be understated for what he brings to the table. His toughness and willingness to lay bone-crushing hit after bone-crushing hit will continue to be monumental for the Vegas Golden Knights as they enter 2019-20 looking to clinch the Stanley Cup.
The Numbers:
Games: 54
Goals: 8
Assists: 1
Points: 9
Shots On Goal: 85
ATOI: 9:57
PIM: 29
Plus / Minus: -4
Hits: 277
Blocked Shots: 13
Takeaways: 31
CF%: 56.4
oZS%: 57.2
Games (Playoffs): 7
ATOI (Playoffs): 8:52
Hits (Playoffs): 43