We now know what Ben Chiarot's next contract will look like
With the NHL trade deadline less than two weeks away, many players will be on the radar of the teams that will be among the buyers.
On the Habs side, the one who should leave the team for sure, is defender Ben Chiarot. In his case, it is mainly to know when he will be traded by Kent Hughes.
Beyond knowing which team he could join, many are wondering about his real value and what kind of contract he could sign as a free agent this summer.
We know have a better idea, thanks to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Pennsylvania team signed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to a five-year contract extension averaging $5.1 million a year.
It's still a lot of money for a defender who has very modest statistics this season, when he collected only 13 points in 49 games.
But what is most surprising in his case is that he has never played in the playoffs during his entire career. If we compare with Chiarot this year, he collected 16 points in 52 games, but it is especially his usefulness during the last playoffs that gives him a certain advantage over the Flyers defenseman. PLUS, his two-way game.
So we can ask ourselves the question: is Ben Chiarot worth more than Rasmus Ristolainen?
For my part, I believe that Chiarot could bring a little more to a team that aspires to the top honors this year, but in the long term, Ristolainen may have a little more talent offensively.
But one thing is certain, Chiarot's future contract should look a lot like the one just signed by the Finnish defender.
