Montreal Canadiens: Ben Chiarot Out Long Term With Broken Hand
Montreal Canadiens defenceman Ben Chiarot left last night’s game early and it didn’t return. It doesn’t sound like we are going to see him any time soon.
While it was widely speculated that he may have injured his hand in a first period fight with JT Miller, it was announced officially until this evening.
The team finally made the announcement that Chiarot has broken a bone in his hand and has returned to Montreal to seek treatment for the injury.
Chiarot has been logging a ton of minutes for the Canadiens this season. Heading into last night’s game he was averaging just under 22 minutes per game. He was almost exclusively attached to captain Shea Weber whether it be the top pairing at even strength or the most used duo on the penalty kill. Weber gets a little more action on the power play, but Chiarot’s been used as much as any Habs defender on a handful of night’s this season.
The timeline for coming back from a broken hand can be several weeks. There was no announcement on how long Chiarot will be out of the lineup, but it is going to be weeks, not days before we see him back in the lineup.
The Canadiens will turn to Victor Mete to fill the void as he has been used very sparingly this season. You couldn’t find a more opposite replacement for Chiarot as Mete is a small, fast, skilled defenceman while Chiarot is more of the rugged, physical type.
However, Mete has had some success playing with Weber in the past and could find chemistry there once again. If not, he will be on the third pairing while Brett Kulak or Alexander Romanov move up to the top four to replace Chiarot.
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It will be interesting to see how the ice time is dished out tonight, as we are going to have to get used to seeing a new partner with Weber.