Zdeno Chara Can't Stay Healthy For A Full Season Anymore - Why Are The Bruins Pretending He Can?
BOSTON (CBS) -- Zdeno Chara hit the ice for less than two minutes before suffering his first setback of the season.
During the Boston Bruins' 4-3 preseason win over the New York Rangers Thursday night, Chara logged just 1:57 of ice time before taking a body check against the boards by the Rangers' Ryan Bourque. Chara left the game, his first of the preseason, with an upper-body injury as a result of the hit.
It's hard to tell from the video, but it looks likely that Chara suffered a rib or side injury.
The Bruins got "good news" according to Claude Julien on Friday, who said Chara is "day-to-day" with the injury. He missed Friday's practice, but according to CSNNE Bruins insider Joe Haggerty he had a scheduled day off and will be re-examined.
The Bruins appear to have dodged a bullet with Chara avoiding a major injury, but it's a bad sign if you're hoping the 38-year-old former Norris Trophy winner can stay healthy for a full 82-game season - let alone a potential playoff run.
It's not Chara's fault that the Bruins have foisted so much defensive responsibility on him entering the 2014-15 season. His decline is simply the reality of athletes who have logged as much ice time as he has as they reach their late-30s. Bodies typically break down quicker and easier, regardless of work ethic - and you know Chara's injuries are not because of bad conditioning.
At 38, Chara isn't going to get any younger, faster or stronger. And his stats in recent years show a steady decline: His average time on ice has slightly but steadily decreased in the past five seasons. His games played have declined for the past four seasons. His CorsiFor rate, which measures the percentage of time the Bruins possess the puck while Chara is on the ice, has also declined for four straight seasons, indicating that his effectiveness is declining in addition to his durability.
Again, the blame for the Bruins' seemingly paper-thin defensive corps falls on the front office, not Chara. It's a risky proposition to depend on a 38-year-old defenseman to not only regularly log No.1 defenseman minutes, but do it for a full season and beyond. Chara is still a difference-maker when healthy, but a reduction in workload would have been a good idea to keep him fresh well into the second half of the season. A night off here and there would certainly help.
With the lack of depth behind Chara, the Bruins aren't likely to do that. After the captain, the Bruins defense is looking at a top-4 of Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller, Torey Krug, and Zach Trotman, with Joe Morrow, Matt Irwin, Brandon Carlo, and Colin Miller battling for the final spots. 34-year-old Dennis Seidenberg, another veteran battling injuries, will be out for the next 8 weeks after undergoing back surgery.
Krug expressed confidence in the defense to get the Bruins through the injuries with who they have.
"Now with maybe a couple of question marks, it definitely will raise the battle level of each individual guy," Krug told the Bruins Blog. "We have a great group of guys coming to the rink every day willing to learn, and really excited about a great opportunity. That opportunity is there; we'll see who steps up."
Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins participates in on ice activities during the 2015 NHL Player Media Tour on September 8, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Assuming Chara is on the ice, his partner is in question and none of the remaining defensemen can replace the package that Seidenberg brings. Krug can replicate Seidenberg's left-handed shot, but lacks his size and defensive prowess. McQuaid and Miller could bring Seidenberg's size, toughness and even-strength defense, but not his shot or penalty-killing ability.
Clearly, the Bruins need to hope for a renaissance season from Chara if they want to make the playoffs, let alone a Stanley Cup run. Chara has always been an extremely hard worker - if anyone can bounce back, it's him. But he will need to reverse the trends of the past 4-5 seasons, and avoid the extended time on IR that he spent last season. And considering that Chara never quite regained his form even after returning from a knee injury, he will need to overcome his current upper-body injury and continue to play at a high level for a full season - again, not reasonable or realistic to expect at his age.
Much responsibility has to fall on the Bruins front office for failing to bring in sufficient depth in free agency, as they sit on $4,764,333 in cap space, according to Spotrac. Cody Franson carries a $3.25 million cap hit with his new team, the Buffalo Sabres. Not that Franson was definitely available for the Bruins to sign, but he'd certainly make the defense much better than it is now.
The Bruins defense is essentially in rebuilding mode, with Miller (whom they acquired from Los Angeles in the Milan Lucic trade) potentially looking like the future at the position. If the Bruins had hope of making another Cup run, they should have added more to the defense behind Chara than they did. Instead, they have subtracted, trading away Dougie Hamilton and Johnny Boychuk in the past two offseasons and thus far failing to replace their presences on the blue line.
Whether he can make it to April and beyond or not, Chara remains the heart and soul of the Bruins defense. Ostensibly, he can't stay healthy or energized for 82 games, let alone the playoffs, yet the Bruins are operating on the assumption that he can. And the Bruins' lack of talent and depth behind Chara will leave everyone clinging to that hope.
Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for CBSBostonSports.com and can barely hold up over a 40-hour work week. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here and follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff.
