With an agreement reached between the NHL and the NHLPA for the upcoming season, it is almost time for Bruins’ captain Zdeno Chara to make a decision on his future.
Now that the NHL and the NHLPA have come to an agreement on the 2020-21 season, hockey is right around the corner. Training camp will open on Jan. 3 at Warrior Ice Arena for the Boston Bruins. There are some questions still that need to be answered. Who will be there? Who won’t? While the Bruins have some time to figure that out, now that attention turns to the last Bruins’ free agent.
Captain Zdeno Chara has made it know that he was waiting for the league to finalize the plans for the upcoming season before he makes a final decision as to whether or not he returns for a 15th season in Boston or a 23rd with another team. He was waiting to see if there were going to be games played with limited travel or if the league was going to try and pull off another bubble. Now that the details have been released for the season, it is Chara’s time to make his decision.
It’s no secret that the Bruins core is getting older and the window is closing on their chance to win another championship. Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, and Tuukka Rask are all north of 30 years old. Heck, Chara will be 43 when the puck is dropped on the new season.
Torey Krug left in free agency in October for the St. Louis Blues leaving a hole in the Bruins defense, but Matt Grzelcyk was re-signed to a four-year, $14.75 million contract to avoid arbitration.
Along with Grzelcyk, that leaves the Bruins with Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Jeremy Lauzon, Connor Clifton, John Moore, Kevan Miller, and some younger prospects entering camp.
Not exactly a list that gives Bruins fans confidence heading into the season.
If Chara returns, where would he play? Most likely, he would find himself as a bottom-six defenseman. Last season, he saw his time on ice drop to 21:01 a night in the regular season, his lowest since his rookie season of 1997-98 with the New York Islanders, which was 18:54. In the playoffs, he had a career-low 19:47 of time on ice in the Toronto playoff bubble.
Chara has been the face of the Black and Gold since he signed as a free agent in the summer of 2006 and has played in 1,553 regular-season games. He helped end a 39-year drought between Stanley Cup championships in 2011, but if you look at what the Bruins have under contract, then having Big Z even in the bottom-six is not a bad option for coach Bruce Cassidy, even if it’s clear his better days are behind him.
General manager Don Sweeney is going to let Chara make the final call as to whether or not he returns. In recent years, Chara has signed short-term deals to remain with the Bruins and he could do another cheap, one-year deal for the upcoming season, even if it means being a bottom-six defenseman for one more run at another Cup.