Jets Re-Sign Pending RFA Ben Chiarot

Late Friday Night after the first round of the NHL Draft and well after everyone assumed that NHL General Managers were done for the night, according to a tweet from TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, Kevin Cheveledayoff has inked defenseman and pending restricted free agent Ben Chiarot to a two year extension worth 2.8 million.

The Jets have not yet confirmed the deal.

The fifth year, 26 year old pro is about to enter his third full season with the Jets after splitting the first two seasons between the AHL and NHL. Last season he played in 59 games picking up two goals and 12 points total. In 170 career games, he has a total of five goals and 30 points.

It’s hard to know where exactly the Jets plan for Chiarot is without having seen what the team does this weekend and on July 1st, but as it stands now Ben is likely have a role on the Jets 3rd defensive pairing – a role that he may be ok at as long as the Jets do not expect or hope for much more than that. Any value he does provide to the team is strictly as a stay-at-home defender type and very rarely generates any offense for his club.

While this is a smart signing for the Jets in terms of team depth and is only a modest raise from the 800 grand he made last season, this hopefully isn’t the only signing Chevy makes to take care of the Jets blue-line.