Steve Yzerman continued his makeover of the Detroit Red Wings’ defense with the signing of free agent Ben Chiarot.
Chiarot got four years and $19 million, working out to an average annual value of $4.75 million.
Yzerman also signed defenseman Olli Määttä on Wednesday, within an hour of the market opening. Määttä got one at $2.25 million.
Chiarot, 31, is a veteran of 489 games. He’s 6 feet 3 and 234 pounds and shoots left. Like Määttä, Chiarot gives the Wings depth on the left side. He and Määttä project to fill out the top four, with a challenge likely from 2021 first-round pick Simon Edvinsson.
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Chiarot finished last season with the Florida Panthers, where he was part of a two-series playoff run. He previously played for the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets. Chiarot is a defensive defenseman, with 118 points and a minus-9 rating in nine-plus seasons.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings sign free agent defenseman Ben Chiarot
