There was some shock yesterday as veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara decided to sign with the Washington Capitals after 14 seasons with the Boston Bruins. While it was clear the Bruins were contemplating going in a different direction, that Chara will play in another uniform is still something fans are having a hard to time wrapping their heads around.
The question a lot of fans are asking now is, ‘How did things fall apart?’ Why didn’t the Bruins want to hang onto Chara after losing Torey Krug and doing so little in the offseason? And, why wasn’t Chara willing to take the role the Bruins might have been offering?
Early reports were that the decision to leave wasn’t Chara’s. In a way, that’s still accurate. The defenseman did say in an Instagram post on Wednesdsay that, “Recently, the Boston Bruins have informed me that they plan to move forward with their many younger and talented players and I respect their decision,” He added, “Unfortunately, my time as the proud captain of the Bruins has come to an end.”
Chara then spoke on a zoom call with media and noted that the Bruins advised him that if he’d returned his role would be limited. They said they were really only interested if he was willing to become “more of a reserve player.” He wasn’t.
With as many as 20 teams interested in signing Chara is things fell apart between he and the Bruins, it makes sense Chara was prepared to move on if he felt he could do more than just play a depth role.
As for why he chose the Capitals? Reports are he felt the team was “Grade A caliber” and it was close to home, which would allow his family to stay in Boston throughout the season.
What About the Bruins?
Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic is reporting that Boston is likely to go young or explore the trade market. There’s some buzz they might look into free agency and target someone like Sami Vatanen, but that isn’t where Team President Cam Neely seemed to hint the team was headed.
Neely acknowledged last week that the Bruins were studying the trade market for help on defense. This is likely to continue as camps open leaguewide and cap compliance becomes more urgent for clubs above the ceiling. It may also be that the Bruins save their cap space and reconsider the market at the April 12 trade deadline.
What a lot of Bruins fans are saying now is that the team better do something. That Chara left for so little and the team seems to have no real plan now that he’s gone, there are some who wonder if the Bruins might be in tough to make the playoffs considering their injuries to start the season and the exodus of players who have left since the 2019-20 campaign ended.
More must-reads: