Zdeno Chara, 44, has opted not to retire and has signed a one-year deal with the New York Islanders.
The signing will keep Chara on the East Coast and near his family, who has remained in Boston since the defenseman left the Bruins in 2020.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report the news.
While Zdeno Chara is still pondering his options for next season, there is one decision he has apparently made one month before NHL training camps begin.
If the Slovakian rearguard returns for a 24th year, which is still unclear, Chara, 44, will play for a team in the east.
Capitals defenseman Zdeno Chara will be an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday, but it appears his future could remain murky well into the summer.
Tuesday, Chara’s agent Matt Keator told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun that the future Hall of Famer is back home in Slovakia. While he’s “working out hard”, he has not made a decision yet on if he will retire or not and is “leaving all of his options open.”
Caps senior writer, Mike Vogel, reported on Friday that the Washington Capitals will lose $472,927 of cap space during the 2021-22 season due to performance bonuses earned by defenseman Zdeno Chara and goaltender Ilya Samsonov.
The Washington Capitals traded Jonas Siegenthaler to the New Jersey Devils in April for a third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. The deal was surprising. Siegenthaler, 24, was signed to an affordable contract ($800k) and remained under team control for several more seasons. In a cap-strapped world, those are two valuable things. Siegs was also coming off a 2019-20 season where he played in almost every game (65 of 69) and was a penalty-kill specialist. He seemed to be a part of the team’s future.
A week after the Devils’ season ended, Siegenthaler got honest about the trade during an Instagram Live interview with Olivier Borer. It appears he asked for a trade.
Norris Trophy-winning Zdeno Chara pondered retirement during the 2020 offseason, but opted to leave the Boston Bruins and sign with the Washington Capitals after a secret meeting with Peter Laviolette in Longboat Key and getting “an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up on.” Chara, who was in search of his second Stanley Cup, found the signing with Washington “a good fit for me and my family.”
Chara was fantastic and durable in a third-pairing role for the Capitals, skating with Nick Jensen and playing in 55 of 56 games. Chara, the tallest player in NHL history, scored 10 points (2g, 8a) and was a penalty-kill specialist. He became the fifth defenseman in NHL history to play in 1,600 games in April.
Ultimately, Chara’s dream of lifting the Stanley Cup again ended in the first round of the 2021 playoffs when his former teammates from Boston eliminated Washington in five games. It was the third consecutive season the Caps had been first-rounded since winning a championship in 2018.
By Ian Oland 3 months ago
Zdeno Chara was named the Capitals’ Masterton Trophy nominee on Monday. The award is given out annually to the NHL player who shows the most perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
“Those two words, I don’t think that you can use two better words to describe (Zdeno Chara) [the] player or [the] person than dedication and perseverance,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “I think that it’s a terrific choice for the Masterton and somebody’s that’s well-deserving.”
Laviolette was then asked for an “example, anecdote, or a behind-the-scenes tale” that perfectly described the future Hall of Fame defenseman. Laviolette decided to share a story that gave background behind how the Capitals inked Chara on December 30 to a one-year contract. Zee’s signing with Washington was one of the biggest surprises of the NHL’s offseason.
The anecdote involves a barrier island on the gulf coast of Florida that is known for its crystal clear water.
By Ian Oland 4 months ago
The Washington chapter of the PHWA* announced on Monday that it nominated Zdeno Chara as the Capitals’ representative for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
The award is given out annually to the NHL player who shows the most perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
Chara, 44, is playing in his 23rd season in the NHL.
By Ian Oland 4 months ago
Garrett Pilon, 23, has spent the last three seasons with the Hershey Bears. Saturday, the Capitals’ 2016 third-round pick will realize a dream he had as a kid.
Pilon will make his debut against the Philadelphia Flyers, Saturday night. The Capitals recalled Pilon from the Hershey Bears around 5 PM and sent down Daniel Carr.
By Ian Oland 5 months ago
