Montreal Canadiens: Three Intriguing Prospects The Habs Could Acquire For Ben Chiarot

The Montreal Canadiens season started horribly and hasn’t gotten much better. They lost their first five games and only put four pucks in the net in that time.

They have won a few since then, but basically every fourth game is a winner and the rest aren’t so good.

There is little reason for optimism that things will change in the near future. The team doesn’t score enough, allows too many goals and chances, is awful on the power play and can’t kill a penalty either. They are basically awful in all facets of the game right now.

It shouldn’t have been this bad. The additions of Mike Hoffman and Christian Dvorak as well as a full season from Cole Caufield gave reason to be hopeful this could be a high scoring squad. The additions of David Savard and Chris Wideman on the back end weren’t real flashy but they should have helped the special teams with Savard killing penalties and Wideman running things on the man advantage.

But it just wasn’t enough to overcome the absence of Shea Weber and Carey Price.

So, the Habs sit near the bottom of the NHL standings and are officially playing out the string already. There will be major changes, and already has been in the front office. On ice changes will be coming, and one of the biggest pieces about to be shipped out is Ben Chiarot.

The big, physical shutdown defender proved in the postseason last year that he is capable of handling big minutes in a playoff series and shut down the opponent’s best players. Due to this, he will be in high demand at the trade deadline.

According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, on Insider Trading segment last week, plenty of contenders are already circling on Chiarot and the price to acquire him will be “a first round pick for sure.”

Which teams will be most eager to acquire Chiarot? And if the Habs are more interested in prospects than picks, what players could they acquire in exchange for Chiarot?

Let’s take a look at three teams who will be interested in Chiarot and three prospects the Canadiens could land in a trade.

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals might be getting a career year out of Alex Ovechkin this season. He has 19 goals and 38 points in just 24 games and is on pace for 65 goals and 130 points in his 36 year old season.

They will be sure to try and capitalize on that and win one more Stanley Cup with their elite goal scoring phenom before he eventually retires. Not that he is going to be done anytime soon, but this could be their last great chance at going all the way.

Once they get reinforcement up front in the return of Anthony Mantha, TJ Oshie and Nicklas Backstroke from injury, they will be an even more dynamic offensive team than they already are now. They won’t need much help scoring goals, so where will they look to upgrade?

Well, they surprisingly traded Brendan Dillon last offseason in a cost cutting effort. He’s a big, physical, shutdown defender that can play big minutes.

So, he’s a lot like Ben Chiarot. The Capitals could use more depth on the left side of their defence where they are now using Dmitri Orlov, Fehervary and Matt Irwin. Acquiring Chiarot would really solidify their top four on the blue line with Orlov, John Carlson and Nick Jensen.

What would it cost? Well, like Pierre LeBrun said, there will be plenty of suitors for Chiarot and he could definitely fetch them a first round pick. If the Habs are interested in a prospect instead?

The Capitals drafted centre Hendrix Lapierre from Gatineau with the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He has 11 points in eight games in the QMJHL this season after starting the season with the Caps. He is a young, skilled playmaking pivot who would fit in quite well down the middle in Montreal in the future.

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are off to a terrific start to this season and are among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They are also in a really deep Metropolitan Division and are going to need some added depth if they want to maintain their current seeding in the standings.

They are all set in goal with Igor Shesterkin and are deep up front. Recent first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere is on their third line so they are doing okay with forwards.

Their defence is deep and talented as well, but it has a couple of more question marks. Their top two defenders are Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba and they both play the right side. They are currently paired with Ryan Lindgren and K’Andre Miller. Lindgren is just 23 years old while Miller is 21. The Rangers third pairing also features 21 year old Nils Lundkvist.

The Rangers could use Chiarot on one of those top two pairs and move a younger blue liner down the depth chart.

In exchange, the Canadiens would be looking closely at defenceman Braden Schneider. The Rangers have plenty of options on the right side with Fox, Trouba and Nils Lundkvist already on the NHL roster. Right shooting, two-way defender Schneider who was the defenceman of the year in the WHL last season after scoring 27 points in 22 games would make sense for the Rangers to use as trade bait as it doesn’t seem like he will be able to crack their lineup anytime soon.

He was a first round pick of the Rangers in 2020, which was Jeff Gorton’s last draft with the Rangers before being let go and ultimately landing in Montreal, and he plays a physical defensive game but can also really move with the puck and get involved offensively as well.