Vegas Golden Knights: Grading the shrewd Carrier extension

It has been a busy week for the Vegas Golden Knights and they took care of another important bit of business on Thursday.

In a week that saw them trade for elite goalie Robin Lehner and Swiss-Army Knife type forward Nick Cousins, the Vegas Golden Knights made a commitment to William Carrier yesterday.

Carried signed a four-year extension with the Knights which will run through 2023-24, carrying an average annual value of $1,400,000.

It is an incredibly team-friendly deal for a player who has become a cornerstone piece on this team.

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And, as they did with defenseman Nick Holden, the Golden Knights locked up a crucial depth player  before Carrier could become a Restricted Free Agent in the off-season.

That is important because Vegas will have a grand total of 19 players who are due to become either Unrestricted or Restricted Free Agents in the summer.

So, by thrashing out a new deal for Carrier now, it not only gives the Golden Knights one less headache to deal with in the off-season, but it also highlights how the franchise feels about the human wrecking ball.

And they should be incredibly high on Carrier given how he has elevated his game since being selected by the Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

Through 65 games this year, Carrier has recorded seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points, setting new career-highs in assists and points while he is on the cusp of doing the same in goals too.

He has shown a different side to his game this year, particularly in the wild overtime win over the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 4 after pulling off two sublime moves.

The 25-year-old combined elite vision, silky hands, brute strength and blistering speed during those highlight-reel plays, and there certainly is a lot more potential to be unlocked.

Then there is the side to Carrier that we all know and love, the absolute wrecking ball on the ice who runs through opponents like an absolute train.

After dishing out 277 hits last year, Carrier has already racked up 199 this season and he plays with a real energy and hustle on that fourth line.

The wing averages 9:45 minutes of total ice time this year while he has an impressive Corsi of 54.7, also ranking sixth on the Knights in individual Expected Goals For per 60 with 0.8 (min. 20 minutes) and fifth in Corsi For per 60 (14.15).

Carrier, who was selected 57th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, has 30 points (16 goals, 14 assists) in 156 career games for Vegas and 38 points (21 goals, 17 assists) in 197 career games in the NHL in total.

This was a home run of a deal given that Carrier currently plays the role of devastating disruptor on the fourth-line, and that responsibility could increase should Ryan Reaves be allowed to walk as a UFA in the summer.

Plus, having shown that he boasts a treasure chest of skill and creativity, Carrier has the potential to grow into maybe a third-line wing for this team going forward given that he has proved that he can provide offense.

A few years away from his prime, the 25-year-old is only going to get better and he plays the style of hockey that the Golden Knights love and crave. He’s an agitator but he can also kill teams with his speed, skill and creativity.

This has been a breakout year for Carrier too and it made perfect sense for the Golden Knights to get a deal done now as opposed to waiting until the off-season when the wing would have become an RFA.

GRADE: A

I absolutely love everything about this extension.

William Carrier has broken out offensively this year with 18 points while still being an absolute wrecking ball with 199 hits.

He plays with a real edge to his game and, at 25-years-old, has plenty of room to develop his game further.

The term on this deal is incredible too. Four years with an average annual value of $1,400,000 is a fantastic team-friendly contract, and it could look like even more of a bargain should William Carrier continue on this upwards trajectory.

Overall, this was another fantastic move by the Vegas Golden Knights in a week that saw them significantly improve in a number of areas.