The Detroit Red Wings took care of some business on Wednesday morning, signing Ben Chiarot to a three-year, $11.55 million contract extension. The 34-year-old was in the final year of a four-year deal the defenseman signed during free agency in July of 2022. Chiarot will have an annual average value of $3.85 million, slightly down from the $4.75 million AAV on the defenseman's previous contract.
Through 54 games played this season, Chiarot has recorded four goals and seven assists, while being a plus-one rating. The left-handed shot defenseman has become a staple of the Red Wings’ second defensive pairing, often skating alongside rookie Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
For Chiarot’s career, the veteran defenseman has skated in 777 career National Hockey League games, totalling 49 goals and 132 assists, to go along with 575 penalty minutes. With Detroit, Chiarot has skated in 288 games, recording 18 goals and 45 assists.
Chiarot has brought value to the Red Wings with his physical game, ranking second on the team in both hits with 109 and blocked shots with 113. The 6-foot-3 defenseman has been able to use his size effectively to help on the Red Wings’ penalty kill, which sits 19th in the NHL at 79%. Chiarot has averaged 21:07 time on ice per game, slotting in with the third-highest average, trailing only Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson.
On Wednesday morning, Chiarot spoke to the media about the newly signed deal to remain with the Red Wings organization for three more years.
“I really enjoy coming to the rink every day, it made it a really easy decision to come back here,” Chiarot said. “My family’s really happy here, from all angles it was a no-brainer.”
What does this extension mean?
The Red Wings found their number one defensive pairing this year, in Seider and Edvinsson. Seider has launched himself into Norris Trophy consideration, while Edvinsson has taken giant leaps in the defenseman's second full season at the NHL level.
This move gives the Red Wings three left-handed shot defenseman for the foreseeable future that head coach Todd McLellan can rely on. Edvinsson on the top pairing, then Chiarot and Albert Johansson holding down the other two spots on the left side.
These are all three strong options at the NHL level that the Red Wings can roll out on any given night. On the right side, the Red Wings have Seider and Sandin-Pellikka as staples for years to come, but now Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings management can lock in on just adding to that right side. This season, the right side sixth spot has been a rotation between Jacob Bernard-Docker, who is an RFA at the end of the season and Travis Hamonic, who is a pending UFA.
Will we see the Red Wings move on from a defensive prospect?
The Red Wings have two defensemen with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the American Hockey League who have been mentioned as future NHLers, in Shai Buium and William Wallinder. Both of these defensemen are left-handed shots and are year two and three respectively, with the Griffins.
Buium was injured during the preseason and has just recently returned to the Griffins lineup. In seven games, Buium has recorded one assist. Last season, the 22-year-old skated in 67 games, posting two goals and 23 assists, while being a plus-two rating.
Wallinder is in his third season with the Griffins and is on pace to post career highs in many statistical categories. Through 38 games, Wallinder has recorded one goal and 13 assists, while being a plus-16. The 23-year-old’s previous highs were recorded last season, when the Swedish-born defenseman posted two goals and 17 assists.
Both these defensemen bring size to their game as Buium is listed at 6-foot-3 and Wallinder is listed at 6-foot-5. One of these players, along with draft picks, could be what Yzerman is looking at packaging as the Red Wings look to make a splash to help get the team back into the playoffs.