BruinDust
Registered User
- Aug 2, 2005
- 24,441
- 22,009
Chara on the bottom pair is solid, Chara on the top pair is a mistake.
Here comes the issue:
Kevan Miller just signed.
Chara potentially re signs...
Who sits, and where do they play?
I like the idea of one of them playing when Tom Wilson is running our forwards to an early grave.
Depending on the opponent, I would dress both (assuming Miller is ready to play as he stated he felt he would be). Washington like you said being the prime example. Play them together on the same pair if need be. It's not ideal for getting the puck out of the zone, but Chara has lined up alongside other guys that weren't super fleet of foot (Boychuk, Ward, McQuaid, etc.) and even Miller at times. If you can somewhat shelter smaller D-men (like when Gryz and Clifton were the 3rd pair) to protect them against larger lines, you can do it to protect a slower pair like Chara-Miller against smaller, speedier lines.
You could also do Chara-Lauzon or Lauzon-Miller on the 3rd pair against big teams and I think you would be just fine. Even Zboril, he's no wallflower himself, he's not small, he's very strong, and possesses a mean streak at times. In my few viewings of Zboril, a number of times down low he tried to put his opponent through the boards.