Montreal Canadiens: Is Left Defense Still A Need?

When the Montreal Canadiens entered the offseason, consensus was their biggest need was at left defense. Does that still hold true after signing Ben Chiarot?

The Montreal Canadiens biggest need this summer was to find a left defenseman. After that, they needed a backup goaltender and maybe someone to replace Andrew Shaw. But any fan of the Habs would have told you that the biggest hole to fill was on the left side of their blue line pairings.

Ideally, general manager Marc Bergevin would have been able to find a top pairing defender. Shea Weber is the team’s best all-around defenseman and he could use someone to play top minutes with him that can move the puck up ice but also lock things down in the defensive zone.

There were rumours around the draft that Shayne Gostisbehere was a possible trade target. It made sense since the Philadelphia Flyers have a plethora of young defensemen in their lineup and a few more in the pipeline ready to make an impact. Even if they dealt Gostisbehere, they would have Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim and Robert Hagg as left-shooting defenders.

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They also brought in Justin Braun and Matt Niskanen this offseason to play the right side with top prospect Philippe Myers. It is a crowded blue line to say the least. However, nothing materialized, at least not yet.

There were also rumours that a crowded New York Islanders defense crop could lead to Bergevin trading for Nick Leddy. Leddy’s offensive numbers dropped last season but he was a top pairing defender on the stingiest defensive team in the league. Putting him next to Weber could have created an excellent shutdown pair and brought back the offensive side of Leddy’s game.

Again, nothing materialized. At least, nothing has come together quite yet. As we head into the middle of July the likelihood of a blockbuster trade seems to decrease. Over the years, teams have been very busy around the draft and early in July, but there can be a huge lull following that action until training camp arrives in September.

That doesn’t mean a trade can’t happen, it just doesn’t happen as often. Which begs the question, is the Canadiens blue line already built for next season? Is this what they will head to camp with? If so, is it really good enough to carry the team to the postseason?

Thus far, Bergevin has brought in Ben Chiarot on a three-year contract with a cap hit of $3.5 million. He was a frequent partner of Dustin Byfuglien‘s last season with the Winnipeg Jets so he is no stranger to playing against tough opposition. HIs physical presence and shot-blocking will allow him to eat minutes for the Habs, but doesn’t create the same spark in Habs fans as Leddy or Gostisbehere would have.

As of now, I would slot Chiarot in with Petry on the second pairing. This allows Weber to continue to play with the speedy Victor Mete and puts Brett Kulak on the third pairing with either Christian Folin or Noah Juulsen, whichever righty wins the final job out of camp.

The Mete, Chiarot and Kulak combination down the left side isn’t a long list of Norris contenders by any means, but they are all NHL defenders. There is no question that Chiarot can be a number four and handle playing with Petry. Kulak played well with Petry last season and is a great option on the third pairing.

The only real question here is whether Mete has what it takes to be a top pairing defenseman and can handle playing tough minutes every night with Weber. He started slowly last season, but after a short stint with the Laval Rocket in December, he played well down the stretch.

I have no problem giving the 21-year-old the chance to prove he can play that role 82 times next season. He had his ups and downs last season but not many 20 year old defensemen dominate the NHL every night. Especially ones that were taken in the 4th round of the NHL Draft.

It is not hard to imagine that such a young defenseman can learn from some of his past mistakes and be a better all-around player next season. He already earned the trust of his coaching staff that he can play top minutes with Weber. Why not give him the opportunity to continue to grow into a first pairing defender next season?

Then you have Chiarot, a veteran defender who can easily slot into a second pairing role with Petry, much like he did with the Jets in the past. Then there is Kulak on the third pairing and he played well enough to be in the top four last season.

Where exactly is the upgrade needed? If someone were brought in, which of those three defenders do you ship out? Is Kulak really going to be happy to be a depth piece and a frequent healthy scratch? He passed over potential free agency to sign a three-year deal worth $1.85 million so I’m guessing he’s in the lineup every night.

The Habs have also loaded the cupboards with left shooting defense prospects as well. The best one is Alexander Romanov who was the best defenseman at the World Juniors last season as an underager. He will be back at the tournament for Russia this winter and will be a force.

He has one year left on his contract in the KHL and could be cracking the Habs lineup as soon as next season. They drafted Jordan Harris in 2018 as well who had a great Freshman campaign with the Northeastern Huskies last season.

At the most recent NHL Draft, the Canadiens focused on LD and got a couple of prospects with high potential. Jayden Struble is set to join Harris at Northeastern after being taken in the second round. Mattias Norlinder dropped to the third round which had scouts in his home country of Sweden scratching their heads. Gianni Fairbrother showed off his skills at development camp that make the Everett Silvertips defender an intriguing prospect as well.

Not all of these prospects are going to be home run picks, but it does give the Canadiens a lot of potential help in the lineup in the near future. Mete is just 21 and will be around for a long time. Kulak and Chiarot have fresh three-year deals and are going nowhere.

Romanov could be pushing one of them aside in a year’s time. By the time Chiarot’s contract is up, chances are one of Norlinder, Harris, Struble or Fairbrother will be able to take on an NHL role.

So, is left defense still a need for the Montreal Canadiens? No, it’s not a need. Obviously if you get the chance to upgrade any position you do that. However, the Canadiens do not need to sell the farm to try and upgrade this position. It is just fine right now and should be even better in the near future.