The Detroit Red Wings had a lightly attended practice Thursday, using the benefit of some breathing room between games to let players with bumps and bruises heal. One guy, though, who won’t be back right away is defenseman Ben Chiarot.
“Ben’s been dealing with something upper-body,” coach Derek Lalonde said Thursday. “He might be in that week-to-week range. We’ll see him before the season is out, but he has been dealing with something for a little bit now.”
The Wings (30-28-9) next play Saturday when they face the Colorado Avalanche in a matinee at Little Caesars Arena. They open next week with three games the first four days.
Forward Filip Zadina’s practice ended after a reverse hit sent him to the bench, where he sat for a bit looking woozy before going to the room. Lalonde didn’t have an update and expected to know more Friday.
Lalonde said he and general manager Steve Yzerman hadn’t decided if anybody would be called up to offset Chiarot’s absence. Unless another defenseman isn’t available Saturday, the Wings do still have six regulars available in Moritz Seider, Jake Walman, Olli Määttä, Gustav Lindström, Robert Hägg and Jordan Oesterle.
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Of the prospects with the Grand Rapids Griffins, reports on 2019 second-round pick Albert Johansson (five goals, 15 points, minus-7 in 53 games) have been positive. The No. 6 pick in 2021, Simon Edvinsson (five goals, 27 points, minus-2 in 50 games) has had a more up-and-down season, struggling to assert himself at times. The Wings could also lean on a veteran and call up Brian Lashoff.
Chiarot, 31, was one of the players signed last summer, brought in on a four-year, $19-million deal. Lalonde pointed to the physicality Chiarot (6 foot 3, 232 pounds) brings as something the Wings will miss. “We’re not not built like that,” Lalonde said. “We want to be as heavy as possible, and a lot of times when you see heavy in our game, or a heavy hit in the D-zone, a separation of the puck in the D-zone, Benny is that guy a lot. So you miss that body, and just a couple moments within the season, him standing up for his teammates in Minnesota, some things like that.”
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Chiarot also has brought a touch of offense (five goals, 13 assists in 67 games) — and an ugly minus-27 rating. But while the plus-minus rating keeps sticking around, it isn’t much used by hockey insiders because a player can get tagged with a minus for being on the ice if a goal is scored during a line-change, for example, and he doesn’t have his fingerprints on it.
“I don’t put as much weight in that plus-minus,” Lalonde said. “There’s a reason that’s a little outdated. There’s some truth to it — Benny would be the first one to admit, it’s found him in a few situations. But I just think it is what we have asked of him. We’re asking to play his off-hand against top lines. So, there’s still more season for Benny left this season, but we are very happy with what he has brought us and him being part of that core. Even in closed doors, he has been a very valuable addition to our team.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.