Ben Chiarot

Ben Chiarot
Chiarot with the Montreal Canadiens in 2021
Born	(1991-05-09) May 9, 1991 (age 33) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	234 lb (106 kg; 16 st 10 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	Detroit Red Wings Winnipeg Jets Montreal Canadiens Florida Panthers
NHL draft	120th overall, 2009 Atlanta Thrashers
Playing career	2010–present

Ben Chiarot (born May 9, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the fourth round, 120th overall, by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Chiarot has previously played for the Winnipeg Jets, Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers.

Early life

Chiarot was born on May 9, 1991, in Hamilton, Ontario, ^[1] to Tara and Matt Chiarot. ^[2] Canadian football ran in the Chiarot family: his grandfather Gord played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and BC Lions of the Canadian Football League, while his father and uncle played college football for McMaster University. Chiarot's father refused to allow him to play football as a child, however, and he focused on ice hockey instead. ^[3] Chiarot played minor ice hockey as a defenceman for the Mississauga IceDogs of the Greater Toronto Hockey League. In his final season with the team, he recorded 22 goals and 64 points in 75 regular season games, as well as five points in seven OHL Cup games. ^[4]

Playing career

Junior

Chiarot played major junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Guelph Storm, Sudbury Wolves, and Saginaw Spirit.

Professional

Winnipeg Jets

Chiarot with the St. John's IceCaps in 2013.

He was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 4th round (120th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, and made his professional debut in the American Hockey League with the Chicago Wolves during the 2009–10 season. On March 16, 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers signed Chiarot to an entry-level contract. ^[5] On July 23, 2014, Chiarot signed a two-way deal, worth $600,000 with the Jets, after a strong campaign with the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League. ^[6] Chiarot scored his first NHL goal on January 3, 2015, in a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. ^[7]

On June 18, 2015, the Winnipeg Jets resigned Chiarot to a two-year, $1.7 million contract extension. ^[8]

On June 24, 2017, the Jets re-signed Chiarot to a two-year, $2.8 million contract extension with an annual average of $1.4 million. ^[9]

Montreal Canadiens

After spending the first eight seasons of his professional career within the Thrashers/Jets franchise, Chiarot left as a free agent following the 2018–19 season to a sign a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens on July 4, 2019. ^[10] Later, on October 9, 2019, Chiarot scored his first goal with Montreal in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres. ^[11] In his first season in Montreal, he managed a new personal best of 9 goals and 12 assists in 69 games.

While playing with the Canadiens over the course of the contract, Chiarot assumed an increasingly prominent role in their defense corps, notably participating in the team's deep run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He led the Canadiens in ice time during the playoffs. ^[12] He later remarked "getting to the Finals is the pinnacle of what hockey is when you're playing for the Stanley Cup and it's down to two teams. I'll always be grateful that I had that experience because it's not one that everybody gets." ^[13]

Entering the final season of his contract, he became the subject of increasing speculation that he would be traded before the deadline in order to secure the Canadiens more picks in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. ^[14] Chiarot recorded 18 points in 54 games with the Canadiens, the last being an assist on the game-tying shorthanded goal in the final minute of the third period of a March 13 game against the Philadelphia Flyers, leading to a 4–3 Canadiens victory in overtime. ^[15] On March 15, coach Martin St. Louis announced that he would sit out the remaining games in advance of the trade deadline to avoid injury. ^[16]

Florida Panthers

On March 16, 2022, Chiarot was traded by the Canadiens to the Florida Panthers, for prospect Tyler Smilanic, a 2023 first-round pick, and a 2022 fourth-round pick. ^[17] Following the trade, Chiarot remained in Montreal rather than joining the team on the road, and made his debut with the club on March 24 in a game against the Canadiens. He registered his first assist with the team in the game, contributing to a 4–3 Panthers victory. ^[18] The Panthers won the Presidents' Trophy with the best regular season record in the NHL, and qualified for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. Chiarot assumed a prominent role in the Panthers' defense during their first round series against the Washington Capitals, where they prevailed 4 games to 2, advancing to the second round for the first time in a quarter century. ^[19] Chariot was fined for head-butting Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ross Colton in Game 1 of the second round. ^[20] The Panthers were swept by the Lightning, bringing their playoffs to an end. ^[21]

Detroit Red Wings

On July 13, 2022, Chiarot signed a four-year, $19 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings. ^[22]

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2006–07	Mississauga IceDogs AAA	GTHL U16		75	22	42	64	202		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Guelph Storm	OHL		31	0	0	0	14		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Guelph Storm	OHL		67	2	10	12	111		4	0	3	3	8
2009–10	Guelph Storm	OHL		41	4	9	13	106		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Sudbury Wolves	OHL		26	4	4	8	61		4	1	0	1	6
2009–10	Chicago Wolves	AHL		1	0	0	0	4		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Sudbury Wolves	OHL		25	5	8	13	62		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Saginaw Spirit	OHL		39	5	19	24	51		12	1	4	5	21
2011–12	St. John's IceCaps	AHL		18	1	1	2	19		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Colorado Eagles	ECHL		24	6	7	13	13		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	St. John's IceCaps	AHL		61	1	11	12	81		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	St. John's IceCaps	AHL		65	6	14	20	96		21	2	3	5	16
2013–14	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	St. John's IceCaps	AHL		24	4	5	9	21		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		40	2	6	8	22		2	0	0	0	2
2015–16	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		70	1	9	10	43		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		59	2	10	12	33		—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		57	2	12	14	32		16	0	3	3	15
2018–19	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		78	5	15	20	62		6	0	0	0	0
2019–20	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		69	9	12	21	61		10	0	2	2	12
2020–21	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		41	1	6	7	50		22	1	1	2	16
2021–22	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		54	7	11	18	42		—	—	—	—	—
2021–22	Florida Panthers	NHL		20	2	6	8	6		10	0	1	1	8
2022–23	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		76	5	14	19	51		—	—	—	—	—
2023–24	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		77	5	15	20	56		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				642	41	116	157	458		66	1	7	8	53

References

1. "Ben Chiarot Stats and News". National Hockey League . Retrieved January 29, 2022.
2. Radley, Scott (April 11, 2018). "The first family of Hamilton sports, V2.0". The Hamilton Spectator . Retrieved January 29, 2022.
3. Thomas, Jamie (November 10, 2018). "Love of football runs deep in Chiarot family". National Hockey League. Winnipeg Jets . Retrieved January 29, 2022.
4. "2021 Stanley Cup Final to feature eight GTHL alumni". Greater Toronto Hockey League. June 28, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
5. "Thrashers, Chiarot agree to entry-level contract". oursportscentral.com. March 16, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
6. "Winnipeg Jets sign D Ben Chiarot to one-year, two-way deal". Winnipeg Sun. July 23, 2014.
7. "First NHL Goal: Chiarot contributes to Jets win over Maple Leafs". hockeysfuture.com. January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
8. "Jets agree to terms with Ben Chiarot". nhl.com. June 18, 2015.
9. "Jets agree to two-year extension with Chiarot". Winnipeg Jets. June 24, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
10. "Three-year contract for defenceman Ben Chiarot". Montreal Canadiens. July 4, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
11. "Johansson Scores in OT as Sabres Beat Canadiens 5-4". The Hockey Writers. October 9, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
12. Szporer, Ryan (November 24, 2021). "Canadiens Can Theoretically Trade Chiarot for First-Round Pick". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
13. Engels, Eric (March 16, 2022). "Q&A with Ben Chiarot: On time with Canadiens, Suzuki and Caufield, trade". Sportsnet . Retrieved March 16, 2022.
14. Engels, Eric (December 3, 2021). "Canadiens' Ben Chiarot reinforces trade value in loss to Avalanche". Sportsnet . Retrieved December 5, 2021.
15. Engels, Eric (March 14, 2022). "With a strong performance, Chiarot could be leaving Canadiens on high note". Sportsnet . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
16. Engels, Eric (March 15, 2022). "Canadiens' Ben Chiarot to be scratched vs. Coyotes ahead of trade deadline". Sportsnet . Retrieved March 15, 2022.
17. Canadiens, Montreal (March 16, 2022). "Ben Chiarot traded to Florida Panthers". National Hockey League . Retrieved March 16, 2022.
18. D'Amours, Tristan (March 24, 2022). "Panthers squeeze past Canadiens for newly-acquired Chiarot's 1st win over former team". CBC Sports . Retrieved March 25, 2022.
19. Guy, Colby (May 17, 2022). "Ben Chiarot working well on Florida Panthers top D-pairing". Florida Hockey Now. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
20. "Panthers' Ben Chiarot fined $5K for head-butting Lightning's Ross Colton". Sportsnet . May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
21. MacIntyre, Iain (May 24, 2022). "Led by Andrei Vasilevskiy's brilliance, Lightning hand Panthers a nightmare ending". Sportsnet . Retrieved May 24, 2022.
22. "Chiarot signs four-year, $19 million contract with Red Wings". NHL.com. July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database