The Boston Bruins will have their pillar of leadership and defensive excellence back for at least another season after captain Zdeno Chara signed a one-year, $5 million contract for the 2018-19 campaign Wednesday.
His current contract expires after this season, and it’s clear both sides did not want to part ways. And with good reason, too, because the 41-year-old defenseman has played very well this season.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney expanded on Chara’s impressive performance during a press conference Wednesday.
“Well, I think it starts with performance. He’s been a dominant player this year,” Sweeney said, per a transcript provided by the team. “He takes all of the hard matchups still, doesn’t shy away from any situations and has embraced the role that he’s kind of emerged into, peeling back a little bit of situational things and being very open-minded to that. Doesn’t lessen his impact on the course of our hockey club on a nightly basis, and you see his minutes are still up there, and some nights, probably a little too high. You know, he makes us a little nervous about it, but he’s still the one saying, no, no, no, open the door; I’m going.
“Again, that just speaks to his preparation, and it also speaks to the fact that he wants to continue to play, and that’s part of it. He’s indicated that he wants to perform at a high, high level. He expects to perform at a high level, and he’s backed that up. So, for me, it was a very easy decision, especially having the talks that we’ve had along the way and where his mindset is.”
A look inside the numbers helps show how well Chara has played this season.
He has a 53.43 Corsi For percentage at 5-on-5, which means the Bruins account for more than 50 percent of shot attempts taken when he’s on the ice. Anything above 50 percent is solid, and the league leader, Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano, sits at 57.8 percent entering Wednesday.
Boston also has a plus-118 differential in scoring chances and a plus-12 goal differential during 5-on-5 play with Chara on the ice. And, as Sweeney alluded to, Chara takes on the tough matchups, which includes playing against opponents’ top lines and being given difficult zone starts (he’s started just over 50 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the attacking zone).
One area where Chara makes a huge impact is the penalty kill, where the B’s rank fifth in the league with an 82.8 percent success rate. Chara leads the Bruins with 3:41 of shorthanded ice time per game, about 40 seconds more than the next-highest.
Chara has meant a lot to the Bruins, and his mentoring of the team’s young defensemen has been quite valuable in recent seasons. But make no mistake, he deserved another contract based on his performance. He’s still a top-tier NHL defenseman, and the Bruins signing him for just $5 million (plus incentives) is a tremendous value.
