Montreal Canadiens: Three Potential Ben Chiarot Trades

Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers are having perhaps their best season ever. They sit atop the Atlantic Division and are looking to make a long playoff run for the first time since a surprise trip to the Stanley Cup Final back in 1996.

Rumour has it that they are looking to add a top four defender to work with Aaron Ekblad, Mac Weegar and Gustav Forsling. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, the Panthers are taking a look at Ben Chiarot as a possible upgrade to their blue line.

Chiarot could step right onto the Panthers top pairing at even strength with Ekblad, allowing Weegar to move back his natural right side and play with Forsling on the second pairing. That would give the Panthers a deep, talented and physical group of defenders, including Radko Gudas who would slide down to the third pairing.

What would it cost? It sounds like Owen Tippett is the prospect that is being offered around. The 23 year old has shown he can find the back of the net at all levels below the NHL, but hasn’t found a fit in the Panthers deep lineup this season.

The 6’1″ and 207 pound right winger has played 87 NHL games over the past two seasons and scored 32 points. However, he has 25 goals and 58 points in his last 58 AHL games over the past three seasons. So, he can obviously score at the AHL level, but hasn’t quite broken through at the NHL level yet.

Would a trade to a new team and a bigger role unlock his potential? With the Habs, it is possible he could find a spot on the second line with Christian Dvorak and Jonathan Drouin when everyone is healthy.

The 10th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft is hitting the point in his career where he is graduating from prospect status to regular NHLer. But he does have 18 points in 12 AHL games this season so obviously there is plenty of offensive skill that is worth taking a gamble on.