Chiarot ready to play his role

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This article was published 23/10/2017 (2881 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He’s become a bit of a forgotten man around these parts, pushed aside in favour of a high-profile free agent signing and highly touted prospect turned pro.

As the Winnipeg Jets began their season, Ben Chiarot found himself parked in the press box instead of patrolling the blue line.

He wasn’t even the first choice when injury opened up a spot, as rookie Tucker Poolman drew into the lineup for two games in place of Dustin Byfuglien. Poolman then got a third game last week — playing on his off-side no less — when off-season addition Dmitry Kulikov went down.

Chiarot, 26, finally got his shot Friday in his team’s seventh game of the season, taking Poolman’s spot on a pairing with Tyler Myers in a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild. He played a clean and tidy 16 minutes and looked solid, dishing out three hits.

“When you’re coming in like that, after sitting out a while, you just want to get in the game pretty early on. Once you get your feet under you it’s like riding a bike,” Chiarot said following Monday’s practice.

However, Chiarot might not want to get too comfortable. With Kulikov expected back in the lineup as early as Thursday when the Jets travel to Pittsburgh to play the Stanley Cup-champion Penguins, he’s likely going to go back to being the healthy scratch with no idea of when his next opportunity may come.

“You just worry about yourself and doing your job. You get paid to come here and play hockey. You’re not paid to decide where you go out,” Chiarot said. “I just do my job and do whatever I can to help the team win. Whatever I’m asked to do, I do. I don’t really whine or complain.”

Chiarot has played a variety of roles in his three full seasons with the Jets, including being pressed into top-four duty many times. He dressed in 59 games last season, scoring two goals and adding 10 assists while going plus-two.

He likely won’t come close to as much action this season, barring some major injuries in the defence corps.

“This is probably the most depth we’ve had. We’ve got a really good top six, and this year we’ve got eight guys that can play a lot of minutes,” Chiarot said. “So depth is good, it’s good competition for ice time and pushed everyone to be a little bit better, so that’s a good thing.”

Chiarot praised the play of Myers, who missed most of last season with an injury.

“He’s obviously a really good player in our league. You can see the effect not having him had on our defence last year. He moves so well and defends so well with how long he is and his arms and his reach,” Chiarot said. “Having him back, and especially being my partner, it makes things a bit easier for me.”

Chiarot believes his team is finally ready to take the step they’ve been talking about for a few years when it comes to better defensive play. He pointed to the game against Minnesota, when the Jets entered the third period tied 3-3 and only surrendered four shots on their way to victory.

“I think as our younger guys get older, you get a better understanding the game is more than just run-and-gun and trying to score the whole time. When you’re up a goal or two, you don’t need to. It’s better to put a puck deep,” he said. “You see those good teams do that. You shut it down and play a tight defensive game. And I think we’re learning to do that.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg