Of course this is a gamble, but it is a good one to take in this environment of that 2nd contract essentially disappearing and the young stars getting paid right out of their ELCs. If not Chabot, who else? There aren't many better offensive defencemen in the NHL period.
You always worry that he will regress like a Phaneuf. Injuries can happen. There are always lots of things that can come up over an 8 year period.
However, this is as good of a gamble as there is for a young defencemen. Ekblad hasn't (imo) lived up to his 7.5 deal - though you might blame that on his concussion issues in the past. Chabot is easily in that same conversation as Ekblad was. Heck, Calgary signed Phaneuf for 6.5 at a time with a much lower salary cap. This was a good signing - 8 years are always a gamble, but this was a good bet.
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