Canadiens Place Defenseman On Injured Reserve

The Montreal Canadiens have placed Ben Chiarot on injured reserve.

This is very notable, as Chiarot is currently one of the biggest players on the trading block right now. The veteran defenseman is in the final year of his contract, and with the Canadiens at the bottom of the NHL standings, they will be inevitably moving him.

According to Eric Engels, Chiarot's injury shouldn't cause him to miss too much more time once his mandatory one week on IR passes. However, he noted that a specific timeline has not been determined, but it also isn't expected to be a long-term injury.

Don’t expect Ben Chiarot to be out long. Obviously, placed on IR means out at least a week, but not believed to be too much longer than that. They’ll be cautious bringing him back, take time so he’s 100 percent. As of right now, not expected to be long-term.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 13, 2022

For Montreal's sake, they have to be hoping that this remains the case with Chiarot. He is currently getting a lot of attention around the league, and that isn't too surprising. He's the kind of rental that all playoff teams love to have, as he plays a defense-first nature and a very physical game.

In 44 games this season, he has five goals and nine points. It will be interesting to see when he will be able to build on those totals again.