The Detroit Red Wings' defensive woes have captured the headlines recently, especially coming off back-to-back games where they lost 6-3 to both the National Hockey League's last-place team, the Nashville Predators and Atlantic Division leaders the Tampa Bay Lightning.
While some of the Wings' defenders have caught the fans ire for their play, not to be lost in the frustration is the strong play of Ben Chiarot through the team’s first 25 games.
Signed to a four-year $19 million contract on July. 13, 2022, the veteran defenseman’s Red Wing tenure got off to a slow start, posting a team worst minus-31 during his first season and often being ridiculed by fans for his defensive play.
The past two seasons have been stronger for the 34-year-old, with a minus four rating in 2023-24, followed by a minus-14 last season, often playing with Moritz Seider on the team’s number one defense pairing.
This season, Chiarot has bounced between playing with Seider and rookie Axel Sandin-Pellikka, helping the young Swede get more comfortable as he navigates his way through his first NHL season. Paired together for the majority of Nov., the two have started to gel with each other and are ranked as the 43rd overall pairing to play together on the season as of Friday afternoon via Natural Stat Trick.
In his 25 games played, Chiarot has scored three goals and added four assists, which is putting him on pace to challenge his career high of 21 points set back in 2019-20 while playing for the Montreal Canadiens.
The goals have come in big moments for the Hamilton, Ont. native, as his second goal of the year brought the Wings within one in the third period in an eventual 4-3 overtime victory against Columbus last Saturday, while his third goal of the season tied the game at three in the third against the Predators this past Wednesday.
During that 4-3 victory against Columbus, Chiarot found himself in an unfamiliar position, playing during the three-on-three overtime period, a sight that even had Red Wings colour announcer, Mickey Redmond, asking on the Red Wings home broadcast if Chiarot had any three-on-three time this season. Moments later Chiarot picked up the primary assist on Alex DeBrincat’s game winner.
The Columbus game was a bounce back effort in head coach Todd McLellan’s eyes after what transpired in the game prior, during a 5-0 loss at the hands of the New York Islanders. Speaking to the media post-game on Nov. 22, McLellan said, “We challenged Benny because he probably didn’t have his best night against the Islanders, but he really responded well and I thought he played a heavy hard game.”
There is more to Ben Chiarot's game than just points
The value Chiarot is bringing to the Red Wings goes beyond his point totals, as the defenseman is currently one of five Red Wing players who have played at least 20 games to have a positive plus/minus rating, with Chiarot’s being plus two, trailing only Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond and Emmitt Finnie while being tied with Seider.
This is particularly impressive for a team that currently has a minus-11 goal differential, while also giving up 86 goals, the second most in the Eastern Conference after Friday’s loss.
The 12-year NHL veteran is averaging the third most ice-time per game on the team at 21:05 and leading the team in shots blocked with 56 after Friday’s seven, good enough to place him top five in the league. The physical defender slots in second on the team with 61 hits, trailing only Marco Kasper, who has dished out 64.
While the Wings defensive core has struggled for the majority of 2025, not to be lost along the way is the strong showing by Chiarot through the season’s opening two months.