Montreal Canadiens Lose Defenseman Long-Term

The Montreal Canadiens have announced defenseman Ben Chiarot is going to miss roughly six-to-eight weeks due to surgery to repair a fractured hand. The injury happened on March 10th during a matchup against the Vancouver Canucks.

Ben Chiarot will be out for six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery today in Montreal.https://t.co/DILXMfVPYA
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 15, 2021

Chiarot has been a pillar for the Canadiens this season in their top-four and is one of the team's unsung heroes up to this point. The 29-year-old is as tough as they come on the blueline and he's surely going to be missed by the Habs.

So far this season Chiarot had recorded one goal and five points in 25 games, along with 44 minutes in penalties.

With Chiarot out, look for the Canadiens to lean heavily on rookie Alexander Romanov. The Russian rookie has been playing more lately alongside Shea Weber and it looks like that will be his home for the next couple of months.

Montreal sits fourth in the North division, only two points up on the 5th ranked Calgary Flames. These next six-to-eight weeks just got tougher for the Habs.