KPD Report: Chara and Bruins agree to long-term deal

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Oct 9, 2010 9:42 AM EDT

Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, who is traveling with the Bruins in Prague, posted an entry this morning on Boston.com's Bruins Blog announcing that the Bruins will likely announce a long-term contract extension for Zdeno Chara today. According to Zdeno Chara's agent, Matt Keator, the deal will be for 6 or 7 years and will be officially announced sometime today. Chara current contract expires at the end of the season and an additional 6 or 7 years would keep Chara in The Hub until at least the age of 40.

While, I agree that Chara is an important member of this team and I would like to see him stay in Boston, I'm not sure I would take the risk of inking such a long-term deal. Hockey is a brutal game and unless you are Mark Recchi , Brendan Shanahan, or Chris Chelios, you don't usually stick around until your 40th birthday. I will wait until I hear the real terms of this deal before I give a complete review, but the length of this deal scares me.

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If this deal happens it probably will look good 2 years from now and terrible 5 years now.

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by Carl Putnam on Oct 9, 2010 10:16 AM EDT reply actions

Yes!!!

Holy shit, 6 or 7 years though…seems a bit more than I would like, but I can live with that. A player like Chara should age well; size doesn’t diminish with age. At worst, at age 40, he’d be a rich man’s Hal Gill.

Free Brad Marchand!

by Phunwin on Oct 9, 2010 10:17 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

8 defensemen in the history of the nHL have played at age 41 or beyond

http://www.hockey-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&year_min=&year_max=&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=41&age_max=99&birth_country=&franch_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos=D&handed=&c1stat=&c1comp=gt&c1val=&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=games_played

Stanley Cup of Chowder: A Hearty Helping of Hockey in The Hub

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Oct 9, 2010 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions

We’re in uncharted territory with Chara to begin with. If you look at the type of players who generally age well, Chara fits the bill very well. No injury history, incredible physical specimen, huge size. I would bet money he’s still effective at 40.

Free Brad Marchand!

by Phunwin on Oct 9, 2010 10:26 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

on hockey reference, you can click the “make short url” link and it looks nicer when you link to it.

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by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Oct 10, 2010 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t care about making it look nice. I care about making my point.

Stanley Cup of Chowder: A Hearty Helping of Hockey in The Hub

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Oct 10, 2010 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions

I should know by now that you don’t want any help, but I can’t help it.

Hockey Blog Adventure: New Post: PJ Axelsson suspended 2 games for knätackling (I'm also on Twitter.) GO BRUINS! (and Wild!)

by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Oct 12, 2010 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Fwiw, I predict 7 yrs, 40 million, with the first 4 years paying most of that.

Free Brad Marchand!

by Phunwin on Oct 9, 2010 10:33 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

It’s 7 years $45.5 million

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Zdeno-Chara-s-big-extension-with-Bruins-7-years?urn=nhl-275792

Stanley Cup of Chowder: A Hearty Helping of Hockey in The Hub

by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Oct 9, 2010 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions

Hmmm, that’s a little higher than I would like. Cap hit of 6.5m per.

Free Brad Marchand!

by Phunwin on Oct 9, 2010 1:06 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

It’s maybe a couple years too long, but i’m glad they locked him up.

by SkateHitShoot on Oct 9, 2010 12:00 PM EDT reply actions

too bad it wasn’t Bergy 7 years and Chara 3.

by SkateHitShoot on Oct 9, 2010 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Call me bananas, but I think it’s a great contract. Z has been pretty much injury free his entire career. It’s also been well documented that he is a fitness freak. The guy cycles like crazy in the off season and he is nuts in the gym. He is also very conservative with his physical play. He can and will lay down some devastating hits when it’s needed, but he by no means goes out there every night letting it all hang out. Anyone else I would probably have my concerns with too,but I really think Z will stay very healthy and remain relevant for the duration of his contract.

by MattS on Oct 9, 2010 7:39 PM EDT reply actions