Boston Bruins: Zdeno Chara may not be fighting fit for opening night

Given the state his body was in by the end of the Stanley Cup Final last season, it’s no big surprise that Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara may miss the start of this campaign.

Skating off the ice after the Boston Bruins gut-wrenching Game 7 loss to the St. Louis Blues, Zdeno Chara was nursing both a broken jaw and an elbow injury that was deemed worthy of minor surgery this summer.

Whilst we all know that the guy is a warrior, especially in light of the fact he returned to the bench following the initial jaw injury and then managed to line-up despite a liquid diet and inability to really speak; expecting him to be fighting fit after limited healing time is unrealistic.

If the injuries had occurred in April and he’d now had almost six months to get himself rehabbed and back to full strength, opening night even for the 42 year-old veteran would have been achievable.

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The fact that he has had roughly two months to get himself ready for training camp, and by opening night, just under three months – it might be best, even if he says he’s there, to hold off and ease him back into the Boston Bruins line-up gently.

Perhaps the bigger issue for Zdeno Chara is that he may not have all of his Boston Bruins teammates on defense back either. This may lead to him needing to be back in the line-up earlier than he’s ready for.

If Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy are still holding out on their restricted free agency contract negotiations, Zdeno Chara becomes far more important to be in the team when they open against the Dallas Stars.

Should those two get their new deals inked in time, suddenly there’s a little less pressure to ensure the captain makes the Boston Bruins’ road opener. Maybe you hold him off a week longer and have his first game be the home opener against the New Jersey Devils?

Granted, such a move would delay him hitting the expected milestone of his 1000th NHL game with the Boston Bruins from the expected January 10th clash with the Winnipeg Jets, but I’m sure we can live with that if it means we get a fit Zdeno Chara.

Surely, we’d prefer that rather than a player still struggling with the after-effects of the longest season possible last year.

The bigger question is whether we continue to see deteriorating performances from the big man or whether the Boston Bruins choose to be slightly smarter in managing his ice-time.

Even at 42 years-old, he still has value as a member of the Boston Bruins defensive core, but the reality is that Zdeno Chara can no longer munch minutes as effectively as years gone by, nor does he reach fix the inherent problem of him slowing down with age.

This may be Zdeno Chara’s last run through the league, so you’d have to imagine the Boston Bruins don’t force him into action unless he’s fit, but time will tell whether he’s willing to sit in the press box for a few games or not.