TSN insider links Canadiens defenceman to the Maple Leafs

The National Hockey League's trade deadline is exactly two months away and one team to keep an eye on is the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal currently sits dead last in the NHL standings and are expected to sell off leading up to the deadline, with pending unrestricted free agents to be the first to go.

One name that has garnered a lot of attention over the last couple of months is defenceman Ben Chiarot. Chiarot has increased his value over the last two years based on his performances in both the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. Some of the teams that have shown interest in Chiarot are the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers and St. Louis Blues.

But could one of Montreal's arch-rivals enter the mix to acquire the 6'3" defenceman? TSN's Darren Dreger think so. He believes that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be a good fit for Ben Chiarot.

"Montreal is going to trade Ben Chiarot to the team that is going to pay the most and it doesn't matter that it's Toronto, it doesn't. They got bigger fish to fry in Montreal than worrying about helping the Maple Leafs," Dreger said on TSN 1050 radio on Friday.

With the absences of Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson, Chiarot has stepped up and played a big role on the Habs blueline this season, averaging 23:20 TOI this season, the highest of his career. In 36 games, the Hamilton, Ontario native has recorded eight points (five goals, three assists), thirty penalty minutes and is a minus-seventeen.

Dreger on TSN1050 says Chiarot would make sense for Toronto:

Montreal is going to trade Ben Chiarot to the team that is going to pay the most and it doesn't matter that it's Toronto, it doesn't. They got bigger fish to fry in Montreal than worrying about helping the Maple Leafs.— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) January 21, 2022

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