Top Trade Destinations for Montreal Canadiens Defenseman Ben Chiarot

It's only been six months since the Montreal Canadiens were playing in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, but it probably feels like six years for the floundering club and their fans. Entering the first full week of 2022, the Canadiens sit second-last in the overall standings with just seven wins and 18 points in 34 games.

Injuries to stars such as Carey Price and Shea Weber and the offseason departures of veteran leaders like Phillip Danault and Corey Perry contributed to the Canadiens' stunning decline this season. By the end of November, the club's woeful performance cost general manager Marc Bergevin and head coach Trevor Timmins their jobs.

Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens' new executive vice-president of hockey operations, could name Bergevin's replacement in the coming weeks. He and the new general manager will have to decide which of their pending free agents could end up getting shopped before the March 21 trade deadline.

Ben Chiarot emerged in media speculation over the final two months of 2021 as a trade candidate. The 6'3", 234-pound defenseman can play on the left or right side of the blue line. His physical shutdown game played a key role in the Canadiens reaching last year's Stanley Cup Final, and he remains among their few bright spots in this miserable season.

Chiarot also carries an affordable contract that will be enticing to contenders with limited salary-cap space. He has a $3.5 million salary-cap hit for this season with a 10-team no-trade list. Slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July, he could decide not to return with the Canadiens and instead try to sign with a Stanley Cup contender during the offseason. 

On Dec. 2, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported speaking with several playoff contenders who greatly value Chiarot. He believes the 31-year-old blueliner could fetch a first-round pick in the trade market. Six days later, LeBrun's colleague Chris Johnston had Chiarot sitting atop TSN's December trade-bait board.

With the calendar flipped to January, Chiarot should still remain a prized asset in the trade market. Here's a look at five clubs that could pursue him in the coming weeks.

Colorado Avalanche

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Playoff success has eluded the Colorado Avalanche in recent years. Despite their strong regular-season performances over the last three seasons (including winning the Presidents' Trophy last season), they've been unable to advance beyond the second round.

One reason is the absence of big, physical left-side defensemen with postseason experience. While they have considerable depth in talented puck movers such as Cale Makar, Samuel Girard and Devon Toews, they don't have enough blueliners like Chiarot who thrive in the tighter-checking, harder-hitting climate of postseason hockey.

This season could be critical for the Stanley Cup hopes of this season's edition of the Avalanche. Key players such as center Nazem Kadri, winger Andre Burakovsky and goalie Darcy Kuemper could depart this summer as unrestricted free agents. General manager Joe Sakic could go all-in at the trade deadline in hope of bringing the Cup back to Colorado for the first time in 21 years.

Pursuing Chiarot, however, could be an expensive undertaking. They'll only have around $2.96 million in projected salary-cap space at the trade deadline. The Avs don't have a first-round pick in this year's draft, but Sakic could offer up a promising prospect such as defenseman Justin Barron. He could ask the Canadiens to retain some of Chiarot's salary, but he might have to include a draft pick or another prospect as a sweetener.

Edmonton Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers are blessed with the NHL's two best offensive forwards in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. However, those two cannot improve the club's woeful defensive play. Despite sitting among the top 10 with a 3.38 goals-per-game average, their 3.22 goals-against per game is among the bottom third while their shots-against (33.1) is among the league's highest.

Despite their potent offense, the Oilers find themselves clinging to a wild-card berth in the Western Conference. They could use reliable goaltending as Mike Smith has been sidelined most of this season, while backup Mikko Koskinen is inconsistent. However, adding an experienced, defensive-minded rearguard like Chiarot could also help reduce the shots- and goals-against stats.

Chiarot would help to take some of the load off Darnell Nurse, who's the most physical of the Oilers' defensemen. He could also take some of the burden off 38-year-old Duncan Keith on the second pairing. They could use him as a second- or third-pairing left-side blueliner or shift him to the right side.

Oilers general manager Ken Holland can offer up his first-rounder, but he could instead dangle a promising prospect such as Dylan Holloway or Xavier Bourgault. He could also ask the Habs to absorb part of Chiarot's cap hit or take on a pending free agent like Kyle Turris or Colton Sceviour to squeeze him within their limited cap payroll. That could mean adding a sweetener like another prospect or a draft pick.

Florida Panthers

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Since last season, the Florida Panthers have become one of the NHL's top teams. They're battling with the Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals and the defending Stanley Cup champions (and state rival) Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Eastern Conference.

While the Panthers' 3.78 goals-per-game average ranks second overall, their 2.91 goals-against is uncomfortably close to the league's bottom-third, even though they're middle of the pack (31.3) in shots against per game. They'll have a tough time reaching the Stanley Cup Final this spring unless they address that issue.

The Panthers could use an experienced shutdown defenseman like Chiarot on the left side of their blue line. MacKenzie Weegar does a good job filling that role among their top pairing, but Gustav Forsling and Lucas Carlsson are known more for their puck-moving skills.

Having traded the Panthers' first-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres last summer to acquire forward Sam Reinhart, general manager Bill Zito must consider other options to make a pitch for Chiarot. He could offer his 2023 first-rounder or perhaps a prospect and next year's second-rounder. The Panthers' limited cap space could also mean convincing the Canadiens to retain part of Chiarot's cap hit.

New York Rangers

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After three seasons of rebuilding, the New York Rangers entered January 2022 only two points out of first overall in the Eastern Conference. First-year general manager Chris Drury could become a buyer at the March trade deadline, perhaps to add a rugged rental blueliner like Chiarot to his defense corps.

The Rangers possess two highly-skilled puck-moving defensemen in Jacob Trouba and 2021 James Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox on the right side of their blueline. On the left side, they also have a promising young shutdown rearguard in 21-year-old K'Andre Miller and a solid two-way defender in Ryan Lindgren. However, Lindgren has just three games of postseason action while Miller has none.

Chiarot would bring size, physical shutdown skills and 56 games of playoff know-how to the Rangers' defense. He also has leadership ability, serving as an alternate captain this season with the Canadiens. The big blueliner would join winger Barclay Goodrow as the only active players on the Rangers with Stanley Cup Final experience.

With $9.7 million in current salary-cap space, the Rangers can easily afford Chiarot. Well-stocked with promising youngsters such as Miller, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, Drury can afford to part with his first-round pick. If he's unwilling to move that selection for a rental player, he could instead offer up one of his second-round picks and the rights to winger Vitali Kravtsov, who's playing in Russia this season awaiting a trade.

Washington Capitals

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Entering January, the Washington Capitals are jockeying for first overall in the NHL's overall standings. They could be in the market for a defenseman like Chiarot to bring some size and a physical edge to their blue line as they take another shot at winning the Stanley Cup.

Since winning their first-ever Cup in 2018, the Capitals have been a strong regular-season club, finishing atop the Metropolitan Division in 2018-19 and 2019-20 and second in last season's Mass Mutual East Division. However, they haven't advanced beyond the opening round in their last three postseason appearances.

During last summer, the Capitals shipped defenseman Brenden Dillon to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for two draft picks. That move was made to free up salary-cap space to re-sign captain Alex Ovechkin and goaltender Ilya Samsonov. However, it took away invaluable size and experienced defensive depth from the left side of their blue-line corps.

The Capitals could address that need before the trade deadline. Salary-cap space is an issue as they're $4 million above the $81.5 million salary cap with Anthony Mantha on long-term injury reserve. However, they could try to convince the Canadiens to retain half of Chiarot's cap hit in exchange for perhaps a first-round pick and a lower-salaried depth defenseman like Dennis Cholowski or Matt Irwin.

                                   

Stats (as of Jan. 3, 2021) via NHL.com. Salary info via Cap Friendly.