Montreal Canadiens: 3 Keys To Victory vs Winnipeg Jets

Play Ben Chiarot Less

The Canadiens changed their head coach just over a week ago and though some small adjustments have been made at 5 on 5, we are seeing mostly the same deployment of players as we did when Claude Julien was behind the bench.

That means, an awful lot of Ben Chiarot and Shea Weber.

When Chiarot signed his three year contract with a $3.5 million cap hit, I thought it was a huge overpayment. Then he played really well last season and looked worth every penny. Then he played terrific in the bubble against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers and his contract appeared to be a bargain.

This season, the contract isn’t looking terrible, but he looks more like a second, or even maybe third pairing defender most nights. That’s not necessarily a problem for a player making an average salary of a player on a cap team. It is a problem when that player is playing the minutes of a Norris Trophy candidate.

In Montreal’s latest contest, Chiarot led the team in ice time with 23:38. He wasn’t terrible in that game, but he isn’t a fast player and he isn’t a great puck moving defence man so it is a little alarming that he is playing more than anyone else on the team.

Chiarot should be moved down to the second pairing, or he and Weber should just play less the current second pairing of Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry.

The Habs will have a much better chance to win when Petry is leading their team in ice time and not Ben Chiarot.