Montreal Canadiens Five Best Free Agent Signings In Habs History
Ben Chiarot
Ben Chiarot was a bit of an unknown commodity when he signed a three year contract in July of 2019. The $3.5 million cap hit actually seemed a bit high for someone who was expected to add some depth on the left side of the defence.
But, Chiarot carved out a much bigger role for himself than anyone could have guessed on the day he arrived. It was not long before he was on the top pairing with Shea Weber, and he remained one of the team’s most used defenders until the day he was traded to the Florida Panthers.
At 6’3″ and 234 pounds, Chiarot fit the picture of what general manager Marc Bergevin wanted on the blue line. He was enormous, physical and willing to blocks shots and fight if the situation called for it. He also ended up adding more offence than expected as well.
Chiarot scored nine goals and 21 points in 69 games in his first season with the Canadiens. Both of those numbers were career highs. He had seven points in 41 games in the 2020-21 season but he helped the team make a run to the Stanley Cup Final, while averaging 25:15 per night.
A lot of free agent signings have terrible endings as the contract lingers too long, but Chiarot was quite the opposite. The Canadiens bottomed out this season and the big defender was traded to the Panthers for a 1st round pick in 2023, a decent prospect in Ty Smilanic and a 4th round pick in 2022.
Roman Hamrlik
Like Ben Chiarot, Roman Hamrlik was a big, physical defender and was well aware of how to take care of business in his own zone. He was 33 years old when he signed a four year contract with a $5.5 million cap hit.
He slotted in right behind Andrei Markov on the depth chart and gave the Canadiens plenty of responsible minutes for all four seasons of the contract. He killed penalties, shut down tough opposition and helped break in younger defensemen as they made their NHL debuts.
Hamrlik was just a consistent, low maintenance veteran who got the job done defensively and added a bit of offence along the way. He averaged just under 80 games per season in his four years with the Habs and scored 30 points per year while playing over 22 minutes per night against tough competition and took on a huge role on the penalty kill.
Hamrlik was great in the 2010 postseason when the Canadiens made a run to the Eastern Conference Final, taking rookie P.K. Subban under his wing on the second defence pairing and helping the inexperienced but highly skilled defender become an impact player immediately.