The Montreal Canadiens biggest need entering the 2019-20 season was on the left side on defence. It has been a major need for the Habs since Andrei Markov was not re-signed after the 2016-17 season. Rumours swirled about the Canadiens potentially making a trade to acquire Shayne Gostisbehere from the Philadelphia Flyers. However, a trade never materialized. The Canadiens instead elected to dip into the free-agent market and sign burly defenceman Ben Chiarot. While many viewed this signing as just a slight upgrade from Jordie Benn, Chiarot proved to be much more than that. The Ben Chiarot signing has looked brilliant thus far for the Canadiens.
Ben Chiarot Signing Paying Early Dividends for the Canadiens
After what was a career year production-wise for Chiarot with the Winnipeg Jets, Chiarot elected to leave the Jets to sign with the Canadiens on July 4th. At a time when the Canadiens were in desperate need of a top-four defenceman, more importantly, a top-pairing defenceman to play with Shea Weber, a lot of fans mocked the signing. How could this possibly be Bergevin’s big move to improve the left side? However, Chiarot could very well be the most underrated signing of the 2019 offseason.
Defence First
The biggest reason the Habs signed Chiarot was for his ability to play his position, defence. The big burly defenceman possesses great size at 6’3”, 225lbs and he is not afraid to use it. Chiarot plays a rugged style of game and it showed with the 152 hits he threw this season. That was just 19 less than the year prior, however in nine fewer games. He also leads the team in blocked shots with 128, averaging almost two per game.
Chiarot’s defensive play makes him the most used player on the Canadiens penalty kill. With 209:23 total minutes of ice time, Chiarot was the sixth most-used player in the league on the penalty kill. He was also the most penalized player of the top six. Chiarot even finished ahead of Captain Shea Weber in terms of minutes played, a huge testament to his defensive abilities. Especially considering that he spent almost double the amount of time that Weber did in the ‘sin bin’. Chiarot was the team leader in penalty minutes this season but still managed to spend the most time killing them off.
So what makes Chiarot such a good defender? Well, Chiarot is considered to be a typical stay at home defenceman. He possesses great size and reach which allows him to keep opponents to the outside. He then likes to use his body to make his opponents pay if they try to beat him wide. Chiarot has a strong hockey IQ and great positioning to keep the opponents scoring chances to a minimum. In terms of xGA/60 (expected goals against per 60) at even strength, Chiarot’s 2.38 rating is very respectable, considering the Canadiens allowed the ninth-most goals against this season and Chiarot draws the toughest matchups each and every night.
Producing Offensively
Neither the Canadiens or their fans are surprised by the defensive side of the game. That is how Chiarot has made his living. However, it is his offensive production that really stood out this season. Chiarot had a career year scoring nine goals and 21 points this season. Not jaw-dropping numbers by any means. However, considering he was on pace for double-digit tallies in goals for the first time in his career and had already surpassed his career-high in both goals and points while playing nine fewer games is commending.
Chiarot has the tools to put up strong goal totals as he possesses a booming slap-shot. His xGF/60 rating at even strength of 2.79 is good for seventh on the entire roster and has a higher rating than every forward outside of the Phillip Danault line and Max Domi. His CorsiFor% has climbed from 48.13 percent with the Jets just a season ago to 54.82 percent at even strength with the Habs this season. This is a massive increase over the course of the season.
Great Bang for Their Buck
Given how well Chiarot performed for the Canadiens during the 2019-20 season, the Habs are certainly getting great bang for their buck. Chiarot’s $3.5 mill cap hit is peanuts considering the level he played at. Chiarot was a minute-eater on the Canadiens blue-line averaging 23:08 minutes per game. This was almost a five-minute increase from his time in Winnipeg. He proved more than capable of being able to handle that workload.
Most top four defenders would get anywhere from $4 million to $11 million per season. Chiarot’s contract comes in just below that number and they have him locked up for another two-years. This is great news for the Habs. Not only does it allow them to focus their money on other needs but his strong play will take some of the pressure on top prospect Alexander Romanov as he makes the transition to North America this coming season. Romanov is the future of the Habs blue-line. He will need some time to get accustomed to the North American game. Having Chiarot there to take the bulk of the load to let Romanov transition into his role and not be thrown into the fire will prove beneficial for the Canadiens moving forward.
Because of all this, his leadership abilities and his willingness to stand up for his teammates on the ice, I’m comfortable saying that the Canadiens got an absolute steal in Ben Chiarot. He is the most underrated signing of the 2019-20 offseason and is a very important part of the Canadiens defence group moving forward.
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