Ben Chiarot is back on the ice and that has an impact on the trade deadline
During the Canadiens’ first practice back from their forced break due to COVID-19 on Monday, injured defenceman Ben Chiarot walked out to the bench in street clothes as his teammates skated around and watched for a bit. But he didn’t stay long.
It appeared as though the sight of them skating around was too much to bear. But it wasn’t that. Chiarot was getting prepared for his own return to the ice.
Not long after his teammates left, Chiarot jumped on in full equipment with a trainer. He had a glove on his left hand but left his broken right hand exposed for a while. It did not have a cast, just a brace of some sort, a black band that went across the knuckles he used to try to punch J.T. Miller in a fight on March 10.
Chiarot was supposed to be out a minimum of six weeks from the time of his surgery on his broken right hand on March 15, which would have had him returning in a best-case scenario on April 26. Except he is already back on the ice and is able to hold a stick, though he is not yet handling pucks. Still, it would be reasonable to believe at this point that his return is at most three weeks away, if not less than that.
If the Canadiens trade for a defenceman off an American team, the one-week quarantine that would be required means that player would be useful to the Canadiens for two weeks before Chiarot’s return. And with each passing day, that window of prime usefulness grows smaller. After that, the new defenceman would have to be considered an upgrade on either Brett Kulak or Alexander Romanov in order to remain in the lineup.
Another important factor here is Ducharme’s desire to have Romanov play on the left side even after Chiarot returns, something he reiterated Thursday morning.
“I think it helps his game,” Ducharme said Thursday morning. “The way he closes on guys through the neutral zone and high into our zone, I think he’s doing a good job on the left side. When he gets the puck, it’s easier to see the play when you’re on your strong side.”
Yet another factor is how well Kulak has played next to Jeff Petry since Chiarot’s injury.
“He seems comfortable playing with Jeff,” Ducharme said. “Both guys are really skating well. The way (Kulak) skates, he can really close on guys quick, that’s one part where he’s having success when he does that, and he’s been consistent in doing that lately and he’s got to keep doing that. He’s keeping it simple with the puck and he’s got the legs to be in the play and support the attack. I think it’s a part of him that’s moving well with good decisions, with the puck and without the puck. He’s just making good reads and killing plays quick and (making) simple plays with the puck.”
Along with Joel Edmundson’s ability to play on the right side, all of these factors need to be considered when assessing the likelihood of Bergevin going out and acquiring reinforcements for the left side of his defence, or even his defence in general. The cost of such a trade would need to be weighed against the extent to which the new player is an upgrade on either Kulak or Romanov, or if he is simply a replacement for Chiarot until his return, which appears to be not that far down the road.
Considering how well Kulak has played next to Petry and how invested the Canadiens are in keeping Romanov in the lineup and his cap constraints, maybe this time Bergevin can be taken more seriously when he says not to expect anything much before the deadline.