William Carrier

William Carrier, a forward for the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL, was born on December 20, 1994, in LaSalle, Quebec, and grew up in Pierrefonds, Quebec. He won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 and again with the Hurricanes in 2026.

Youth

Carrier began his hockey career in the 2007 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor team from Deux-Rives. During the 2009–10 season, he played three games for the midget AAA Lac Saint-Louis Lions.

Major junior

In the 2010 QMJHL draft, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles selected him in the fourth round, 61st overall. He scored his first QMJHL goal on September 10, 2010, in a 3–2 win over the Halifax Mooseheads. Later that season, he represented Team Canada Quebec at the 2011 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, recording five points in six games.

Leading up to the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Carrier was considered a top-30 prospect. Hockey Canada’s head scout Kevin Prendergast attended a game against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar to watch him.

After being passed over in the first round, the St. Louis Blues picked him in the second round, 57th overall, and signed him to a three-year entry-level contract on August 19, 2013. During the 2013–14 season, the Eagles traded Carrier and Matthew Donnelly to the Drummondville Voltigeurs on January 7, 2014, for Guillaume Gauthier, a 2015 first-round pick, and a 2014 fifth-round pick. Over a month later, on February 28, 2014, the Blues traded his NHL contract, along with Chris Stewart, Jaroslav Halák, and first- and third-round picks in the 2014 draft, to the Buffalo Sabres for goaltender Ryan Miller and captain Steve Ott.

Professional

Carrier made his NHL debut on November 5, 2016, against the Ottawa Senators, and scored his first NHL goal on November 19 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In December 2016, he was penalized for an illegal check to the head of David Backes, who suffered a concussion. Left exposed by the Sabres for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, the Vegas Golden Knights selected him on June 21, 2017.

In his first season, the Golden Knights reached the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. During the first round against the Los Angeles Kings, Carrier entered concussion protocol after an illegal check to the head by Drew Doughty, and he also missed a game in the third round against the Winnipeg Jets. On February 27, 2020, he signed a four-year, $5.6 million contract extension with Vegas.