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With the departure of longtime blue-liner Tobias Enstrom in the off-season, and injuries stealing away almost half of Dustin Byfuglien’s season, there has been extra pressure in 2018-19 on the Winnipeg Jets defencemen usually cast in depth roles.
The biggest change has arguably been for Ben Chiarot, who has gone from a clear third-pairing blue-liner who got about 15 minutes of ice time per game over the previous three years up to 18½ minutes this season.
The extra 210 seconds or so may not seem like a lot, but it is the difference between Chiarot ranking 194th in ice time per game among NHL defencemen last season to 134th this season.