Another team enters the race to acquire Canadiens defenceman Ben Chiarot
Montreal Canadiens defenceman Ben Chiarot will be a hot commodity leading up the NHL's trade deadline on Monday, March 21st at 3pm ET.
Chiarot is one of only a few pending unrestricted free agent defencemen available currently according to most insiders. His play in the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs has proved he is a valuable asset to have on anyone's blueline. His physical, hard-nosed style of play is built for the playoffs, and it's expected that he'll fetch the Canadiens a first round pick at the deadline.
Among the teams that have expressed interest are the Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, and now a new team has entered the race according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Calgary Flames.
"With that in mind, the last time Ben Chiarot was a free agent, Toronto was very interested. It couldn't work at the time, but it's something to remember. Calgary, Florida and St. Louis are among the other parties looking into him," Friedman said in Tuesday's edition of 32 Thoughts.
In 38 games this season, the Hamilton, Ontario native has been arguably Montreal's best defenceman on both sides of the puck. He's put up eight points (five goals, three assists), thirty-two penalty minutes, and is a minus-nineteen. Chiarot is also averaging 23:20 time on ice, the highest of his NHL career, while recording 66 blocked shots and 88 hits.
Source: Elliotte Friedman - 32 Thoughts
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brandon Hagel | - | 5 | 5 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Nico Hischier | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Macklin Celebrini | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Will Cuylle | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Lars Eller | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alex Iafallo | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Ivan | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Drake Batherson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Simon Edvinsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Morgan Frost | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Miro Heiskanen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||