Montreal Canadiens Season Preview: Ben Chiarot

The Montreal Canadiens season is quickly approaching. Before it arrives, we are getting you ready by previewing what next season will look like for every Habs player. Today, we look at newcomer Ben Chiarot.

The Montreal Canadiens completely revamped their left defence two years ago. They traded Mikhail Sergachev to the Tampa Bay Lightning, traded Nathan Beaulieu to the Buffalo Sabres, lost Alexei Emelin in the expansion draft and saw Andrei Markov head back to Russia after a lengthy contract dispute.

Their plan for patching up those holes did not exactly work out since then. The biggest move that general manager Marc Bergevin made was to sign Karl Alzner to a five-year contract with a cap hit of $4.625 million per season.

They also brought in Mark Streit, David Schlemko, Joe Morrow and Jakub Jerabek that offseason. With all of those options failing to upgrade the team’s defence from the year prior, it is really no surprise that the team has missed the postseason for the past two years.

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The latest option to try and move in and take on a role on the left side of the defence is Ben Chiarot. The 28 year old is a physical defender at 6’3″ and nearly 220 pounds and has played the past five seasons with the Winnipeg Jets.

The Hamilton, Ontario native was an unrestricted free agent this summer and inked a three year deal with the Canadiens that will see him be paid $3.5 million per season. Chiarot will now be battling youngster Victor Mete and late bloomer Brett Kulak for ice time on the left side of the Habs blue line.

Chiarot often played a second pairing role with the Jets last season and was often on the ice with Dustin Byfuglien. When Byfuglien was out of the lineup, which was half the season, Chiarot either played with Tyler Myers or Sami Niku. When everyone was healthy, Chiarot was the Jets’ fifth most used defender.

He helped out on the penalty kill, but when Byfuglien was in the lineup, Chiarot was used less while shorthanded. He finished the season averaging 18:37 per game, which ranked him fifth on a strong Winnipeg blue line.

Chiarot’s possession stats don’t paint the greatest picture of the rough-and-tumble defenceman. Morrissey, Trouba and Byfuglien all faced tough competition, so it’s not like Chiarot was going head to head with the other team’s first line every shift. However, he only had a Corsi-For percentage of 47.51%, showing the puck was being directed towards the Jets’ net far more often than it was heading toward the opponent’s goal.

The Canadiens signed him to fill a void left open by Jordie Benn leaving to sign with the Vancouver Canucks. Benn played great in a third pairing role last season, and the Habs management team must be hoping Chiarot can be an upgrade on Benn.

I think Chiarot will be given a chance to take over a top four role alongside Jeff Petry. I don’t think the top pairing role is open, as Mete will once again be playing top minutes with Shea Weber at even strength. Chiarot, a big, physical, defensive defenceman could be a perfect partner for Petry who likes to carry the puck up ice and join the rush on occasion.

The thing is, Kulak had really strong possession stats while playing in that role last season. He looked great when given the opportunity to play with Petry. When the two played together, which was often in the second half of the season, the Canadiens dominated possession, controlling 57.4% of the shot attempts while they were on the ice. The Habs only outscored the opposition 16-15 when Petry and Kulak were on the ice together, but by the end of the season, those two were playing against the other team’s best players.

Chiarot may be given a chance to split up that duo and push Kulak down to the third pairing. However, he is going to have to be even better than he was with Winnipeg in the past if he wants to keep that role. If he struggles at all, we will see him pushed down to the third pairing where he will likely end up playing with Noah Juulsen.

At $3.5 million Chiarot will be an overpaid third pairing defenceman, but his experience and leadership abilities would be beneficial for a young defender like Juulsen to learn from. Also, I just don’t think Chiarot can outplay Mete or Kulak to keep that top four role next season.