On The Ben Chiarot Extension And Missing Context (Prashanth Iyer)
January 29, 2026
On The Ben Chiarot Extension And Missing Context (Prashanth Iyer)
15 comments
Claiming any website has rotted someone’s brain while beckoning them to go back to Nazi pedo land, is certainly a take.
This was a good read this morning and sums up a lot of how I’ve felt about Ben since Todd was hired. There’s just some types of players that the current state of analytics can’t quite capture. He’s not good, but he’s not bad. Ideally a 5/6, but a capable 4 with the right partner. The fact that he can skate pretty well makes me optimistic he can not be an anchor (in the negative sense) at the very end of his deal.
Appreciated the context on on-the-fly handling in stats. Definitely something I’ve overlooked or underestimated.
I love when Prashanth comes through with actual well-thought-out writing and nuance. Not just a lame scorecard and a half-baked thought on social media to ragebait fans.
It’s been amusing to watch the reactions to this signing in particular. I think I finally understand the “data nerds” discourse around hockey.
If you cannot fathom how signing a physical veteran who mentors and protects the kids while playing a slight tick above his natural position (4 vs 5) to a extremely reasonable contract you have no business pushing statistical models or sharing your interpretation of analytical data.
Data nerds stick to compiling data and let the big boys interpret it.
Ben’s a beast.
he puts into words what i think but can’t explain. Great read.
It’s weird because as someone who watches every Wings game he feels like a 60 percentile defenseman. He’s been the 3rd best defenseman all year on a team that should make the playoffs this year and is considered by many to be legit.
I remember the last few years where Newsy was deploying Seider in the D zone every time, causing his analytics to be bad and these analytics nerds were saying that Seider was overrated and not worth his contract.
As a fan who isn’t deep into the numbers, I look at BC and go “when did I last curse his name?” To be honest, I’m happy he will be around and I hope Stevie gets some better defense so BC can take a bottom pair spot.
My uneducated response is this is a good deal for the wings.
Ben should get at least a few percent on that now infamous player card for being so damn handsome. Is 4 percent reasonable?
I feel like this season there are frequently shifts where Chiarot just flat out performs quite well, and I haven’t seen a metric that captures that.
>Chiarot is most likely a below-average defenseman (let’s say 25th-35th percentile) who is currently being asked to play a role that’s above his means out of necessity.
Yeah, we know, we’ve known this whole time, lol.
In a vacuum, Chiarot sucks. If you look as his numbers with our team, this contract appears bad. But, if you stand back and assess the situation as a whole, it is clearly obvious why his numbers are what they are.
He’s over deployed. Plain and simple. Chiarot is a bottom pair guy that has been tasked with playing 1st and 2nd pair minutes for *years*. So, yeah, his numbers are bad. But, for anyone paying attention to the rest of the team, the roster, and the pipeline, it is easily forgivable.
Chiarot was barely a top pair guy with MTL, he surprised everyone when he was given top pair minutes in Winnipeg, and he wasn’t a top pair guy when he signed with the wings.
He’s a fringe number 4 guy, best suited for 5/6 minutes, and that is where he will finished his career with the Wings, and we are all going to love him for it. Is I was a betting man, I put money on Yzerman acquiring a top 4 LD either at the deadline or in FA, which will free Chiarot up to lead the 3rd pair, and either allow Ed to play with either ASP or Mo. I suspect, we’ll see a LD signing to play with Mo. Then, ASP and Ed will be joined at the hip. Those two like each other, they are friends, they have good chemistry, and they are both Swedes.
That is what I think will happen. And, Chiarot leading the third pair is a big defensive upgrade. He’ll be fantastic in that role.
Talk about anal. leakage
I’d be keeping him for his physicality and willingness to throw down alone
Agree with Prashanth and the rest of the fans here, it’s really not a bad contract. He’s not the best defensemen, and he’s being asked to play above his station, everyone knows that. Is he the worst in the league? Absolutely not *cough*Hamonic*cough*
He’s the definition glue guy. Good character, good with the kids, good in the scrum, and I think he really owns every part of identifying as a Red Wing at this point which is something you can’t buy off the shelf. How often is he the only guy mixing it up out there? He definitely makes mistakes but he also went from shoreing up the top line with Seider to trying to be “the guy” on the second line watching over ASP. Man has not had an easy job on this team and he’s handled himself very well in my opinion.
With the cap space going up this is a minimum investment for a strong glue guy.
Chiarot is an erratic defender who is often caught out of position but uses his skating to minimize the damage thereof. His strength is in his athleticism and handsome-per-60, not his hockey IQ. That’s a great indicator of a below average player who will age poorly.
The context here helps explain why the Wings would sign him — Chiarot’s a locker room favorite, the defenseman market is poor, the internal competition is poor, the $$$ is mostly irrelevant due to the rising cap and Yzerman’s cap management. However, that doesn’t make Chiarot a good defenseman just playing the wrong minutes. He frequently contributes to on-ice chaos. The clips show it. The data shows it. This is a guy who will make you hold your breath and pucker during the playoffs.
Can that guy play a crease-clearing PK role? Yeah, maybe. Can he hold down the bottom pair with a smarter partner? Yeah, maybe. But the other context we have to know: does Yzerman believe he’s the guy as he is being used? Or will he also go hunt for an actual 2nd pair LHD? That, I think, is where the criticism actually comes from: the fear that Chiarot is expected to continue doing what he’s doing in his current usage. It’s a status quo move and not a move to improve.
Anyone focused on the money or term is overreacting, though. Contract is whatever and is easily buried if Chiarot becomes truly unplayable.
15 comments
Claiming any website has rotted someone’s brain while beckoning them to go back to Nazi pedo land, is certainly a take.
This was a good read this morning and sums up a lot of how I’ve felt about Ben since Todd was hired. There’s just some types of players that the current state of analytics can’t quite capture. He’s not good, but he’s not bad. Ideally a 5/6, but a capable 4 with the right partner. The fact that he can skate pretty well makes me optimistic he can not be an anchor (in the negative sense) at the very end of his deal.
Appreciated the context on on-the-fly handling in stats. Definitely something I’ve overlooked or underestimated.
I love when Prashanth comes through with actual well-thought-out writing and nuance. Not just a lame scorecard and a half-baked thought on social media to ragebait fans.
It’s been amusing to watch the reactions to this signing in particular. I think I finally understand the “data nerds” discourse around hockey.
If you cannot fathom how signing a physical veteran who mentors and protects the kids while playing a slight tick above his natural position (4 vs 5) to a extremely reasonable contract you have no business pushing statistical models or sharing your interpretation of analytical data.
Data nerds stick to compiling data and let the big boys interpret it.
Ben’s a beast.
he puts into words what i think but can’t explain. Great read.
It’s weird because as someone who watches every Wings game he feels like a 60 percentile defenseman. He’s been the 3rd best defenseman all year on a team that should make the playoffs this year and is considered by many to be legit.
I remember the last few years where Newsy was deploying Seider in the D zone every time, causing his analytics to be bad and these analytics nerds were saying that Seider was overrated and not worth his contract.
As a fan who isn’t deep into the numbers, I look at BC and go “when did I last curse his name?” To be honest, I’m happy he will be around and I hope Stevie gets some better defense so BC can take a bottom pair spot.
My uneducated response is this is a good deal for the wings.
Ben should get at least a few percent on that now infamous player card for being so damn handsome. Is 4 percent reasonable?
I feel like this season there are frequently shifts where Chiarot just flat out performs quite well, and I haven’t seen a metric that captures that.
>Chiarot is most likely a below-average defenseman (let’s say 25th-35th percentile) who is currently being asked to play a role that’s above his means out of necessity.
Yeah, we know, we’ve known this whole time, lol.
In a vacuum, Chiarot sucks. If you look as his numbers with our team, this contract appears bad. But, if you stand back and assess the situation as a whole, it is clearly obvious why his numbers are what they are.
He’s over deployed. Plain and simple. Chiarot is a bottom pair guy that has been tasked with playing 1st and 2nd pair minutes for *years*. So, yeah, his numbers are bad. But, for anyone paying attention to the rest of the team, the roster, and the pipeline, it is easily forgivable.
Chiarot was barely a top pair guy with MTL, he surprised everyone when he was given top pair minutes in Winnipeg, and he wasn’t a top pair guy when he signed with the wings.
He’s a fringe number 4 guy, best suited for 5/6 minutes, and that is where he will finished his career with the Wings, and we are all going to love him for it. Is I was a betting man, I put money on Yzerman acquiring a top 4 LD either at the deadline or in FA, which will free Chiarot up to lead the 3rd pair, and either allow Ed to play with either ASP or Mo. I suspect, we’ll see a LD signing to play with Mo. Then, ASP and Ed will be joined at the hip. Those two like each other, they are friends, they have good chemistry, and they are both Swedes.
That is what I think will happen. And, Chiarot leading the third pair is a big defensive upgrade. He’ll be fantastic in that role.
Talk about anal. leakage
I’d be keeping him for his physicality and willingness to throw down alone
Agree with Prashanth and the rest of the fans here, it’s really not a bad contract. He’s not the best defensemen, and he’s being asked to play above his station, everyone knows that. Is he the worst in the league? Absolutely not *cough*Hamonic*cough*
He’s the definition glue guy. Good character, good with the kids, good in the scrum, and I think he really owns every part of identifying as a Red Wing at this point which is something you can’t buy off the shelf. How often is he the only guy mixing it up out there? He definitely makes mistakes but he also went from shoreing up the top line with Seider to trying to be “the guy” on the second line watching over ASP. Man has not had an easy job on this team and he’s handled himself very well in my opinion.
With the cap space going up this is a minimum investment for a strong glue guy.
Chiarot is an erratic defender who is often caught out of position but uses his skating to minimize the damage thereof. His strength is in his athleticism and handsome-per-60, not his hockey IQ. That’s a great indicator of a below average player who will age poorly.
The context here helps explain why the Wings would sign him — Chiarot’s a locker room favorite, the defenseman market is poor, the internal competition is poor, the $$$ is mostly irrelevant due to the rising cap and Yzerman’s cap management. However, that doesn’t make Chiarot a good defenseman just playing the wrong minutes. He frequently contributes to on-ice chaos. The clips show it. The data shows it. This is a guy who will make you hold your breath and pucker during the playoffs.
Can that guy play a crease-clearing PK role? Yeah, maybe. Can he hold down the bottom pair with a smarter partner? Yeah, maybe. But the other context we have to know: does Yzerman believe he’s the guy as he is being used? Or will he also go hunt for an actual 2nd pair LHD? That, I think, is where the criticism actually comes from: the fear that Chiarot is expected to continue doing what he’s doing in his current usage. It’s a status quo move and not a move to improve.
Anyone focused on the money or term is overreacting, though. Contract is whatever and is easily buried if Chiarot becomes truly unplayable.