Canadiens: Three Potential Ben Chiarot Trade Scenarios

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The Montreal Canadiens, as well as the NHL’s 31 other teams, inch closer to the trade deadline as rumours heat up.

One player that is certain to be traded before the deadline arrives on Monday is Ben Chairot.

The defenceman is in the final year of his contract with a $3.5 million cap hit. The Habs are waiting for the right offer to come in, but have chosen to sit him out as a precautionary measure to avoid injury between now and the deadline.

Chiarot is sure to get the Canadiens a nice return. He is a big, physical, defensive defenceman who also skates incredibly well and puts up more than a few points so he offers a little something in the offensive end and is not purely a defensive player.

He showed last year that he can handle tough assignments throughout the postseason as he made life extremely difficult for Auston Matthew, Mitch Marner, Kyle Connor, Nik Ehlers, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty in the 2021 postseason.

Josh Manson, a slightly less valuable defender, was dealt for a second round pick and prospect Drew Helleson who was a second round pick in 2019 and has played quite well for Boston College for the past three seasons.

Manson plays about four less minutes per game than Chiarot, doesn’t have the same playoff pedigree, has a slightly higher cap hit and has half as many points this season.

This shows the value for Chiarot is extraordinarily high right now. With other defenders like Jakob Chychrun and John Klingberg off the market due to injury or their team attempting to make a run at the postseason, there are not a lot of other options for teams wanting a top four shutdown defender.

That just further increases Chiarot’s value as there are plenty of teams interested, and not a lot of other options available. Mark Giordano, and Hampus Lindholm are probably the only other top four defenders that are likely to be traded before the deadline.

Meanwhile, there are at least half a dozen teams looking for a top four defender. The supply and demand equation is tilting heavily towards the Canadiens favour right now.

So, who is interested in acquiring Chiarot? And what could the return in a trade look like?

Let’s take a look at three possible deals that are more realistic than ever before as we get closer to the deadline.

Mar 8, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Aaron Ekblad. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

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.

Dec 3, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Nils Lundkvist. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports /

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are sure to make the playoffs in a tough Metropolitan Division. It will take a deep team to get through a division that feature the Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.

The Rangers are a pretty deep team but are relying heavily on their excellent goaltender Igor Shesterkin. The Russian goalie is having a ridiculous season and is the Hart Trophy favourite right now but he would certainly welcome a defensive blue liner like Chiarot on his team.

The Canadiens could use help in a lot of areas right now but specifically on the right side of the defence. Most of their top defence prospects (Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble, Mattias Norlinder) are all left shots. Logan Mailloux is the only really good right defenceman prospect.

Luckily, the Rangers have a couple of interesting, young right shot blue liners. At the top of that list would be Nils Lundkvist.

The Swedish defender was a late first round pick in 2018, going 28th overall. He is an offensive minded defender who had 32 points in 52 SHL games last season. 20 year old defencemen don’t often put up that kind of production in Sweden’s top league.

This season, Lundkvist played 25 games with the Rangers but was sent down to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack to work on his all-around game. He has shown some offensive punch there, scoring 13 points in 22 games so far.

If the Canadiens plan on moving Petry, they could use an offensive minded, NHL-ready right shot defender to fill out the depth chart on right defence. He certainly isn’t ready to replace Petry… at least not yet, but he could be playing NHL minutes for the Habs next week.

Mar 13, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Kings players. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings are also in the market for a left defenceman. They have jumpstarted they rebuild by acquiring Viktor Arvidsson and Phillip Danault last offseason and they could even start the playoffs on home ice in a wide open Pacific Division.

The Kings have a chance to make some noise in this year’s playoffs, and gain some experience for their impressive group of young players that are already in the NHL.

A little more veteran savvy on the blue line would help, and Chiarot would fit perfectly in the team’s top four.

The Kings are deep everywhere with young talent and prospects. They probably have the best group of young players in the NHL. The Canadiens could really use help at centre or on right defence and the Kings have depth at both of those positions.

With Drew Doughty signed forever, and Matt Roy and Sean Walker also on the right side and signed for three seasons, there isn’t a lot of room for their young, right shot blue liners to work their way into the lineup.

Jordan Spence is one of those young players who will have a hard time finding a full time role with the Kings in the near future. Even with Walker and Roy injured, Sean Durzi was called up and played well, showing where Spence lays on the depth chart.

Spence is doing everything he can, as the 21 year old has scored 42 points in 46 AHL games for the Ontario Reign this season. Though he was a fourth round pick, and is not huge for an NHL defenceman at 5’10, Spence has a ton of talent and could be the replacement for Petry that this team will need in the near future.

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