Confirmed with Link: Big Z (Zdeno Chara) signed to 1 year, $795,000 deal

[PB12]

 

[Alicat]

Take care of him please. Going to miss him so much

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Orpik 2.0

Finally

1000%

(TJHoushmanzada) Championship!

 

[artilector]

I do. I expect anyone on defense who allows easy paths to Ilya to have a nice little chat with Big Z.

I do expect a lot of chatting from Chara, hopefully from under a warm blanket so that his feet aren't cold

 

[Ridley Simon]

Wow.

Chara at 750k?

what are the Caps risking here?

 

[searle]

This is going to be fun

 

[LSCII]

B's fan, and while it sucks to see him go, he's pretty much cooked. He lacks the skating ability to be a 22 minute per night guy these days, but that's how he was used last year, and would have been again this year if they had brought him back. That being said though, if you spot him like on the PK or in late game situations where the other team is pulling the goalie, and he doesn't have to be very mobile, he can still be very effective defensively in his own end. If you're playing against faster teams that have players who can really move, he's not what you want on the ice. Scary to watch in fact.

 

[Corby78]

Ok I’ll be that guy. I don’t get it. Was not impressed with him last year, looked way too slow. I’m hoping this is another taxi squad move because I’m worried if we’re counting on him to be effective.

somebody please tell me why Boston wouldn’t pay 750k for one last ride?

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

 

[PB12]

Ok I’ll be that guy. I don’t get it. Was not impressed with him last year, looked way too slow. I’m hoping this is another taxi squad move because I’m worried if we’re counting on him to be effective.

somebody please tell me why Boston wouldn’t pay 750k for one last ride?

DEFENSE! We got 5 guys who might as well be playing forward and a young goaltender. Bad combo. This gives someone to go along with Dillon to protect Ilya. Plus with Hank out, Sammy is likely playing more games.

 

[Corby78]

DEFENSE! We got 5 guys who might as well be playing forward and a young goaltender. Bad combo. This gives someone to go along with Dillon to protect Ilya. Plus with Hank out, Sammy is likely playing more games.

The guy looked like a statue last year. I don’t see him being that defense stopper we would like him to be.

 

[PB12]

The guy looked like a statue last year. I don’t see him being that defense stopper we would like him to be.

Its better than what we have.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Maybe Lavi watched film and wasn't impressed with Siegenthaler and they don't want to rush Fehervary or Alexeyev into full-time duty. They also now have eight legitimate NHL defensemen -- four on the left in Dillon, Orlov, Chara, and Siegenthaler and four on the right in Carlson, Jensen, Schultz, and TVR -- so they're protected against injuries or a bad run of play during the compressed season. Big Z also should be a big help on the PK. Hard to complain about this signing... except McPhee should have done this in 2006.

 

[Random schmoe]

Hell, at worst if he stinks and they can get away without needing his cap space, put him in a suit on game days and just use him as a mentor. There isn't a single d-man on the Caps that couldn't learn something from Chara.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

You are going to love having him. Don't listen to those clouded by bias... Chara is going to be an impact player defensively for you. PK, defending leads, toughness, leadership... Bruins management continues to fail.

 

[PB12]

 

[Ivo]

This Bruins fan says Go Caps! I’ll be cheering for you as long as this man plays for you.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

The guy looked like a statue last year. I don’t see him being that defense stopper we would like him to be.

Games are won on results, not optics

Here is where Chara would've ranked on the Capitals last year in defensive statistics:

1st in +/- at +26
1st in defensive point shares with 5.0
3rd in blocks with 101 (team leader had 108)
1st in ESGA with 39 (for comparison, Carlson had 70 ESGA in only 1 more ESmin/gm than Chara)
1st in ESGA/60 at 2.0 (for comparison, Carlson was at 3.2)
2nd in PK/gm by 1 second at 3:10

 

[Monsterrain]

Love it. No risk, all reward. The back end of the blueline doesnt look so bad now.

 

[marcel snapshot]

I did not see that coming

 

[Langway]

Maybe Lavi watched film and wasn't impressed with Siegenthaler and they don't want to rush Fehervary or Alexeyev into full-time duty. They also now have eight legitimate NHL defensemen -- four on the left in Dillon, Orlov, Chara, and Siegenthaler and four on the right in Carlson, Jensen, Schultz, and TVR -- so they're protected against injuries or a bad run of play during the compressed season. Big Z also should be a big help on the PK. Hard to complain about this signing... except McPhee should have done this in 2006.

IMO it's one part culture, another part goaltending questions. Chara's mobility and offense isn't what it was but the defensive metrics remain really strong. I'm not totally sold whether that will translate in a new system and with a different group but the base in-zone area coverage should still apply.

In a shortened season and with the defensive depth they have they should be able to rotate D and keep some of them rested. It could be a pretty valuable strategy.

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

You guys get that they’ll be periods of this season where players aren’t available for at least 2 weeks, right?


Any team not loading up on cheap depth is completely preparing for the wrong type of season.

This is a bad move in any year that’s not a pandemic and a smart one in 2020-21

 

[Marshall]

I don't care who you have on the blue line already, if you get a chance to sign even a washed-up Chara for damn near the league minimum, you do so.

I don't think this has anything to do with any other player on the team - you just signed a HoFer for dirt-cheap.

 

[TCB]

This Bruins fan says Go Caps! I’ll be cheering for you as long as this man plays for you.

Ditto !

 

[CartographerNo611]

Just don’t pair him with Dillon, they are 1 and 2 for easiest players to beat going wide and fast lol.