Who will be the next Chara?

[nbwingsfan]

To be fair, I thought I had seen enough of a young Zdeno Chara to be shocked if he ever had a season over 30 points, too

Morin's got 4 things going for him on this: size, skating, a mean streak, and that he's very coachable.

This is also true, but I think that speaks more to the rarity of a player like Chara more so than the chances Morin turns into a player just as good.

It seems much more likely Morin is just a physical top 4 D rather than the best Dman in the league defensively while also putting up 50+ points.

Also people need to stop bringing up players who are 6'5 and under. The extra 4 inches Chara has might not seem like much on paper but it makes a huge difference on the ice.

 

[How Ya Drouin]

who was chara before chara was chara?

Exactly.

There has only been one Chara over the past 100 years.

Never before have we seen a 6'7< guy who has his skating, smarts, mean streak, and awesome two way game.

For all we know there may not be another Chara for 25 years.

 

[Dellstrom]

Yes true.

I was just thinking that Hamilton is already a solid #2 in a year or 2 will fill his shoes

Besides being big and being good defensemen, Chara and Hamilton have little in common.

Hamilton can be a #1 and he's on the fast track to being one, but they play VERY different games. Chara has a mean streak, he scares the **** out of everyone. Hamilton is big, and he'll hit, but he will never have the mean streak that Chara has. He's a MUCH better skater, and he uses his mobility and skating to his advantage. He has a really long reach and he doesn't often need to hit people in order to get them off the puck, because it's so hard to skate around him. Hamilton has a much higher offensive IQ, but Chara put up 40-50 points every year, mainly 40s. I can see Hamilton putting up 50+ pretty consistently in a few years. He's on pace for 48 right now, I think.

At 21, he's already a #2, so it's extremely likely he'll be a good #1. But Chara was an absolute force of nature. Don't know when someone like him is going to roll around again. He's so unique that I don't know if another is going to ever come. One thing is for sure, many 6'7+ defensemen are going to be drafted higher than they should be in hopes that they will become him.

 

[IAmBobo]

Justin Schultz came to mind

 

[Gritty]

If only Hedman had a mean streak...

 

[CH25]

Habs fans have hope for Tinordi - but he's only 6'-6" - and only mildly grumpy.

Absolute beauty

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Is this thread about tall defencemen, or just those with anger management issues?

Still have issues with the Pacioretty hit eh?




Anyway, Chara will never be replicated. You might see some pretty tall Dmen become good Defenseman in the NHL down the road, but you'll never see someone on Chara's level again.

 

[CH25]

Hedman easily.

Hedman is kinda soft though. Not too intimidating.

 

[Angry Hockey Dad]

Gaudreau

 

[ZeroPT*]

Buffalo still have faith in Myers breaking out since his rookie year?

urghhhh not this crap again. Myers is better now than his rookie year.

Gaudreau

too tall.


As for the buffalo guys I'd say Zadorov. He delivers a solid 2-3 big hits a game.

 

[BudMovin*]

It's so rare to have that size, nastiness, defensive ability, combined with offensive point production. The closest thing to Chara (who was better) was the even better skating, but smaller Pronger. I guess Weber, but he is "only" 6'4.

 

[Seedling]

Morrisey, Zadorov, Oleksiak.

Sustr has potential.

 

[Claudi27]

Andrej Sustr

 

[TCascagnette]

I think it will be a long, long time before we see a player like Chara.

Yes players like Morin have the size (although still smaller), very few have the nastyness and offensize game that Chara has/had.

Their will certainly be plenty of tall D men who will play top 4 roles, but I don't see one coming along and pitting up 50+ points as well. That's really what separates Chara from the other tall D.

I've seen enough of Morin to say I will be shocked if he ever has a season over 30 points.

Depends who he plays with. If he plays with Ghost, 30 would be decently easy, but say with Grossmann/Schenn/Coburn etc... He won't ever hit those numbers

 

[Teufelsdreck]

How many more seasons before Chara retires? He's still effective but he's slowed down.

 

[gtwyc]

Exactly.

There has only been one Chara over the past 100 years.

Never before have we seen a 6'7< guy who has his skating, smarts, mean streak, and awesome two way game.

For all we know there may not be another Chara for 25 years.

his tools are so rare including that mean streak.. gotta enjoy him before he retires.

 

[BudMovin*]

How many more seasons before Chara retires? He's still effective but he's slowed down.

He will probably play out that guaranteed contract till it ends on the 17-18 season. How effective will he be at the end of it? I have no idea.

 

[Rolo]

Connor McDavid

 

[Benjamin]

Jared Cowen if your on the Sens board.

 

[WarriorofTime]

If your son is on pace to be 6"8 then for gods sake put him in basketball (or football if he's going to be like 300 pounds as well). For every Chara there's 50 guys that big who won't be able to stay upright on skates at fast speeds. Put him in basketball and you got a guaranteed d1 scholarship.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Samuel Morin

::fingers crossed real hard::

 

[Callum]

Hedman is kinda soft though. Not too intimidating.

He can be bloody nasty some games, he gets in moods where he just wants to punish everyone in the opposing sweater. And then the next game he plays very Lidstrom like..

 

[IceManCat]

Insert Tall Player Here: _____________

 

[GTA]

Depends who he plays with. If he plays with Ghost, 30 would be decently easy, but say with Grossmann/Schenn/Coburn etc... He won't ever hit those numbers

If he plays with a guy who might not even make the NHL?

 

[Tasteslikekevinbacon]

Joe hicketts.