5 Free Agents New Jersey Devils Must Avoid At All Costs

5. Ben Chiarot

The Devils need a player on the third line defensive pair. Ben Chiarot is a lefty that the Florida Panthers felt was worth their first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. That was a lofty price for a player who didn’t help them get out of the second round (although he was hardly the only problem). Chiarot is now a free agent, and he is looking to find the right spot.

Chiarot really isn’t that good of a player. The Devils would be better suited to bring back P.K. Subban on a much smaller deal. Chiarot is a big player, and we know how much Tom Fitzgerald audibly loves that. He shouldn’t love this big player, however.

It was always confusing why teams wanted Chiarot in the middle of this past season. He was playing on a bad Canadiens team, yet his stats didn’t stand out much. He’s never scored a lot of points, and he’s not good enough defensively to make up for that.

This would just be a disastrous signing for the Devils. Someone is going to give Chiarot multiple years this offseason since it’s a relatively weak free agent class for defense. There is no Dougie Hamilton or Alex Pietrangelo to lead defenses. The top two names on the list are Kris Letang and John Klingberg. Those are two names the Devils won’t be close to in the first place (rightfully so). When teams go to the next spot on their defense, they will end up overpaying.