Ty Anderson: Will Bruins invite more to camp?

Doesn't matter who the Bruins invite to camp.

As long as they insist that Chara will remain their #1 Dman, they have much much bigger issues. The big man is no longer 100% and I would be shocked if he plays more than 50 games. No 6'9 Human that is 250+lbs can handle knee injuries, especially his non-repairable PCL. If he were late 20's with this injury, I could see him overcoming it for a few years. But not at 38-39 years old.

Doesn't matter who the Bruins invite to camp.

As long as they insist that Chara will remain their #1 Dman, they have much much bigger issues. The big man is no longer 100% and I would be shocked if he plays more than 50 games. No 6'9 Human that is 250+lbs can handle knee injuries, especially his non-repairable PCL. If he were late 20's with this injury, I could see him overcoming it for a few years. But not at 38-39 years old.
- dan_77

yes but he's a fitness freak and the only thing that slowed him down was the surgery. he was a norris finalist two years ago and i expect a big time bounce back this year. guy is a machine.

He's old, you're asking a lot from 38-39 year old monster that is 250lbs+.

It's not going to end favorably for Chara. Fitness freak or not, we reach an age where our bodies no longer heal at the rate they do, and often we do damage else where compensating for injuries.

Chara is all but done unfortunately and the Bruins haven't yet realized it's been time to get off this horse. Chara can handle 14-18 minutes, but he can't be in the 20+ minute range on a top pairing any more. It's going to be a rough year if they don't recognize it. I'd say they haven't, seeing as they did nothing to improve the blueline.

Doesn't matter who the Bruins invite to camp.

As long as they insist that Chara will remain their #1 Dman, they have much much bigger issues. The big man is no longer 100% and I would be shocked if he plays more than 50 games. No 6'9 Human that is 250+lbs can handle knee injuries, especially his non-repairable PCL. If he were late 20's with this injury, I could see him overcoming it for a few years. But not at 38-39 years old.
- dan_77

I'm with you... and I feel like I'm in the VERY slim minority of Bruins fans that feel this way. I think you hit the nail on the head, and we're going to be in trouble as long as they insist he's the #1 D-man. They need to move on, but are too loyal, and blind to the fact that he's old, he's slow, and he's injured. That being said, he does have a NMC, so we're pretty much screwed. Also, he's tying up $7,000,000 in cap space that we could use!

But he's our captain and he was good a few years ago, so he's the best player everrrrrr!

How many losses do you think Neely will tolerate before he fires Julien?

He's old, you're asking a lot from 38-39 year old monster that is 250lbs+.

It's not going to end favorably for Chara. Fitness freak or not, we reach an age where our bodies no longer heal at the rate they do, and often we do damage else where compensating for injuries.

Chara is all but done unfortunately and the Bruins haven't yet realized it's been time to get off this horse. Chara can handle 14-18 minutes, but he can't be in the 20+ minute range on a top pairing any more. It's going to be a rough year if they don't recognize it. I'd say they haven't, seeing as they did nothing to improve the blueline.
- dan_77

ok fine. you know when it's time for guy to shut it down. just do me a favor and don't tell David Ortiz or Tom Brady.

I'm with you... and I feel like I'm in the VERY slim minority of Bruins fans that feel this way. I think you hit the nail on the head, and we're going to be in trouble as long as they insist he's the #1 D-man. They need to move on, but are too loyal, and blind to the fact that he's old, he's slow, and he's injured. That being said, he does have a NMC, so we're pretty much screwed. Also, he's tying up $7,000,000 in cap space that we could use!

But he's our captain and he was good a few years ago, so he's the best player everrrrrr!
- mixturebill

Move on? two years ago he was one of the best three D in the league.

Move on? two years ago he was one of the best three D in the league.
- Fountain-San

And last year he was an embarrassing mess... sooooo, I'd wager that he's more likely the Chara of last year then he will be the Chara of two years ago.

Gotta agree with Ty about the defense. Julien has a great track record of developing young defensemen. I think it's fair to doubt Chara at this point but I'm still confident he's a quality #1. After that, I think between trotman, Miller, Miller, seidenberg, krug, Mcquaid, Irwin, and morrow Julien will have enough options to patch together a solid defense. This isn't like last year, we actually do have 9 NHL defensemen.

And last year he was an embarrassing mess... sooooo, I'd wager that he's more likely the Chara of last year then he will be the Chara of two years ago.
- mixturebill

Embarrassing? Come on man. He was obviously shaky on his skates but he was still effective. Minus the odd blind pass up the slot lol. Just cus he didn't look great doesn't mean he was embarrassing. He'll be better this year

Embarrassing? Come on man. He was obviously shaky on his skates but he was still effective. Minus the odd blind pass up the slot lol. Just cus he didn't look great doesn't mean he was embarrassing. He'll be better this year
- Shaundre93

Effective?!? He may have passed the advanced stat test, but to the naked eye it was embarrassing... the turnovers in our zone... he was soft in front of the net, couldn't move a guy out of there to save his life, he loved to try and play goalie, screening the poop out of Tuukka leading to goals against, any time he got beat in the neutral zone it was a guaranteed break away unless someone else sped back to cover his ass. It was bad. Bruins fans don't want to see it for what it is. We'll see this year... I hope I'm wrong and he can bounce back... I just don't see it happening.

He had very little mobility last year. That much was obvious, I'll watch him play for a couple months before writing him off. He's had just about six months off. Even if he never gets back to Norris form he still thinks the game very well and if he's pain free should be useful. Is he a true number one anymore? No probably not but what will trading him do? We're not hurting for cap space, we will have more as the season goes on as Savard is off the books and even in we have all this space what are we going to do with it? We don't have the assets to trade for a top pairing d man no matter how much cap space we have so unless we get gifted Erik Johnson, Seabrook or Shatterkirk at some absurdly low rate we are hooped in that regard for at least this season.

Trading Chara makes no sense. Zero. End of story.

ok fine. you know when it's time for guy to shut it down. just do me a favor and don't tell David Ortiz or Tom Brady.
- Fountain-San

I appreciated this comment.

I appreciated this comment.
- dothedougie

He had very little mobility last year. That much was obvious, I'll watch him play for a couple months before writing him off. He's had just about six months off. Even if he never gets back to Norris form he still thinks the game very well and if he's pain free should be useful. Is he a true number one anymore? No probably not but what will trading him do? We're not hurting for cap space, we will have more as the season goes on as Savard is off the books and even in we have all this space what are we going to do with it? We don't have the assets to trade for a top pairing d man no matter how much cap space we have so unless we get gifted Erik Johnson, Seabrook or Shatterkirk at some absurdly low rate we are hooped in that regard for at least this season.

Trading Chara makes no sense. Zero. End of story.
- PoketheBear

this

He had very little mobility last year. That much was obvious, I'll watch him play for a couple months before writing him off. He's had just about six months off. Even if he never gets back to Norris form he still thinks the game very well and if he's pain free should be useful. Is he a true number one anymore? No probably not but what will trading him do? We're not hurting for cap space, we will have more as the season goes on as Savard is off the books and even in we have all this space what are we going to do with it? We don't have the assets to trade for a top pairing d man no matter how much cap space we have so unless we get gifted Erik Johnson, Seabrook or Shatterkirk at some absurdly low rate we are hooped in that regard for at least this season.

Trading Chara makes no sense. Zero. End of story.
- PoketheBear

Well like I said, I hope that I'm wrong, but I don't think it's going to take watching him play for months before we'll know what he's going to be this season.

First... where are we going to find more cap space? We have about $4.7m in cap space, and we're not gaining anymore than that unless we trade away someone else. Savard's contract is already gone dude... that money is already off the books. $4.7m is all we got. Not to mention we need to fit a backup goalie in that space as well. Most likely Jeremy Smith at $600k, so we've got about $4m in cap space.

Second... We had a top pairing D-man in Dougie, and we sure could have used that cap space to resign him, or possibly Lucic (though I don't know if that would've been the best idea). So I would argue that we DEFINITELY need more cap space. This season is a pretty big offseason for UFA's and I'd rather have $7m in space open to sign a good player, rather than keeping a deteriorated D-man at that cost. And it's funny you mention it because both Seabrook and Johnson are UFAs next season. Along with names like Byfuglien and Yandle to name a couple more.

Third... We DEFINITELY have the pieces to trade for a top pairing D-man. Subban, Koko, our top 3 picks from this season, our two first round picks next season, etc... there's plenty of assets here to move. However I think that's the opposite of their strategy, and they want to hold onto everything to try and build for the future, rather than moving pieces to be competitive now.

And finally... the fact that you think that it's not even up for debate whether or not it would make sense to move Chara, just solidifies my point about B's fans not being able to see things for what they are instead of what they've been.

Well like I said, I hope that I'm wrong, but I don't think it's going to take watching him play for months before we'll know what he's going to be this season.

First... where are we going to find more cap space? We have about $4.7m in cap space, and we're not gaining anymore than that unless we trade away someone else. Savard's contract is already gone dude... that money is already off the books. $4.7m is all we got. Not to mention we need to fit a backup goalie in that space as well. Most likely Jeremy Smith at $600k, so we've got about $4m in cap space.

Second... We had a top pairing D-man in Dougie, and we sure could have used that cap space to resign him, or possibly Lucic (though I don't know if that would've been the best idea). So I would argue that we DEFINITELY need more cap space. This season is a pretty big offseason for UFA's and I'd rather have $7m in space open to sign a good player, rather than keeping a deteriorated D-man at that cost. And it's funny you mention it because both Seabrook and Johnson are UFAs next season. Along with names like Byfuglien and Yandle to name a couple more.

Third... We DEFINITELY have the pieces to trade for a top pairing D-man. Subban, Koko, our top 3 picks from this season, our two first round picks next season, etc... there's plenty of assets here to move. However I think that's the opposite of their strategy, and they want to hold onto everything to try and build for the future, rather than moving pieces to be competitive now.

And finally... the fact that you think that it's not even up for debate whether or not it would make sense to move Chara, just solidifies my point about B's fans not being able to see things for what they are instead of what they've been.
- mixturebill

We have Kelly and Lucic coming off at the end of the year with only Krug to resign and I'm in the camp if he can't be a top 4 this year he's not worth a hefty raise and should be dealt.

Hamiltons gone and could have been resigned easily. The situtation stinks and I dont know whos to blame but I do know resigning him was never an issue especially at that number. We had room with Lucic and Smith still with the team. If Chara is gone too that means Dennis Seidenberg becomes our number one D. That is terrifying.

No one will take Chara unless we eat half his contract. If you really believe he's washed up don't you think others think it too? Subban and Koko are practically worthless as trade pieces. Especially Subban. They're throw ins at this point. Monitoring the EJ situation is our best bet as of now because Sakic said after Stastny walked he wouldn't let it happen again without getting something for him.

All I was saying is that trading him right now is a bad idea. The defense is embarrassing and he may be overpaid at this point but he's the best we have. Trade him this year and we might as well give up before the puck is even dropped.

Contracts are divided by 82 games and with each game played 1/82 of that contract is deducted off the cap allowance for the year. As far as I understand Savard's contract prevented the Bruins from taking advantage of that. He's gone so we have more cap open as the year goes on.

We have Kelly and Lucic coming off at the end of the year with only Krug to resign and I'm in the camp if he can't be a top 4 this year he's not worth a hefty raise and should be dealt.

Hamiltons gone and could have been resigned easily. The situtation stinks and I dont know whos to blame but I do know resigning him was never an issue especially at that number. We had room with Lucic and Smith still with the team. If Chara is gone too that means Dennis Seidenberg becomes our number one D. That is terrifying.

No one will take Chara unless we eat half his contract. If you really believe he's washed up don't you think others think it too? Subban and Koko are practically worthless as trade pieces. Especially Subban. They're throw ins at this point. Monitoring the EJ situation is our best bet as of now because Sakic said after Stastny walked he wouldn't let it happen again without getting something for him.

All I was saying is that trading him right now is a bad idea. The defense is embarrassing and he may be overpaid at this point but he's the best we have. Trade him this year and we might as well give up before the puck is even dropped.
- PoketheBear

Wait what?!?! Where'd you get that cap info from? I'm pretty sure you're dead wrong on that. A player's AAV is what counts against your cap for the season. The way you make it sound is at the mid point of the season, we'll have $35m in cap space open! Savard's cap hit couldn't be removed until the start of the regular season, and that's why his cap hit effected the Bruins before. They had to wait until the first day of the season before they could place him on LTIR. I'm pretty positive that players don't earn money by the game either, I believe it's just a salary for the year. So if a player is called up from AHL to NHL, he starts getting paid his NHL rate immediately and doesn't have to wait to play in a game to actually get that NHL money.

Honestly, I understand I'm being incredibly harsh with Chara. I just honestly think the dude is done. And yes, I think others know that he's washed up too. I think he should retire, and I think that for as long as he choses to play, he's going to hurt the team more than he does good for the team. But I completely understand his mentality. No athlete, especially one who has been at the top of the game such as Chara, want's to go out at the bottom. I know he thinks that he's going to come back this year, and be a Norris contender, and lead the Bruins to another Stanley Cup... but as the other guy pointed out... HE'S OLD (and super tall, and that just compounds things even more, especially with it being a knee injury). He's going to be 39 before the end of the season, and he's like the 3rd oldest guy in the league. It's going to be really hard for him to recover from a knee injury, especially one that can't be repaired. Im just worried it's going to be a season of watching dudes fly past Chara, and him not being able to keep up with the pace of play anymore. He needs to be on the second pairing, but it just ain't going to happen.

Wait what?!?! Where'd you get that cap info from? I'm pretty sure you're dead wrong on that. A player's AAV is what counts against your cap for the season. The way you make it sound is at the mid point of the season, we'll have $35m in cap space open! Savard's cap hit couldn't be removed until the start of the regular season, and that's why his cap hit effected the Bruins before. They had to wait until the first day of the season before they could place him on LTIR. I'm pretty positive that players don't earn money by the game either, I believe it's just a salary for the year. So if a player is called up from AHL to NHL, he starts getting paid his NHL rate immediately and doesn't have to wait to play in a game to actually get that NHL money.

Honestly, I understand I'm being incredibly harsh with Chara. I just honestly think the dude is done. And yes, I think others know that he's washed up too. I think he should retire, and I think that for as long as he choses to play, he's going to hurt the team more than he does good for the team. But I completely understand his mentality. No athlete, especially one who has been at the top of the game such as Chara, want's to go out at the bottom. I know he thinks that he's going to come back this year, and be a Norris contender, and lead the Bruins to another Stanley Cup... but as the other guy pointed out... HE'S OLD (and super tall, and that just compounds things even more, especially with it being a knee injury). He's going to be 39 before the end of the season, and he's like the 3rd oldest guy in the league. It's going to be really hard for him to recover from a knee injury, especially one that can't be repaired. Im just worried it's going to be a season of watching dudes fly past Chara, and him not being able to keep up with the pace of play anymore. He needs to be on the second pairing, but it just ain't going to happen.
- mixturebill

I got it from a usually fairly reliable guy on another site and didn't double check it but after some digging yeah I was wrong. So sorry about that. Didn't click til after I remembered the hubbub at last year's tdl over Kane and ltir.

And fair enough. Also heard a rumor he plans to retire after this year. I just think for this year it's better to have him here than not. That's all. Trading him isn't an option I don't think but again I'm not writing him off just yet.

Chara is clearly on the decline, but, to say after one rough season he should retire? Ouff....that's a bit much. His pride may be a reason he plays for as long as he will, but I believe it's also a reason he will play smarter hockey in the future. If we as fans can see he's getting beaten by faster guys at a much higher rate now than he was before, I think it's a safe bet to say Sweeney and Co. see it too (as well as Chara himself). He is a smart hockey player and I don't think it's too farfetched to assume he will figure out a way to slow guys down. He's still menacing, and has his 600 foot reach advantage with his stick. With all our new/young d-men, and the nhl's new fixation on offensive d-men, I expect Chara to get back to his basic stay at home defenseman mindset, while the young guys will be bred into the speedy, puck carrying, pinching types. I can agree that the injury factor does scare me at his age, but I'm not about to take old yeller out back just yet.

I got it from a usually fairly reliable guy on another site and didn't double check it but after some digging yeah I was wrong. So sorry about that. Didn't click til after I remembered the hubbub at last year's tdl over Kane and ltir.

And fair enough. Also heard a rumor he plans to retire after this year. I just think for this year it's better to have him here than not. That's all. Trading him isn't an option I don't think but again I'm not writing him off just yet.
- PoketheBear

If there is truth to this rumor, then he surely has told it to Sweeney, and if it was the truth then in no way should we trade him, obviously.

And a guy like Chara at the trade deadline for a contending team would fetch at least one first and a top prospect.

If he admitted to retiring after the season before the deadline then he would be a HUGE chip, if he was playing well.