Washington Capitals: Zdeno Chara Could Prove To Be A Tremendous Signing

It was one of the more shocking signings of the NHL off-season. After fourteen seasons in Boston, all of which he served as captain of the Bruins, Zdeno Chara signed a one year deal with the Washington Capitals. I can’t, shouldn’t and in fact won’t speak for anybody else, but when I got that news I was stunned.

There are those signings that can get you excited to watch a hockey season. For me, this was one of them. Now of course you are getting a 43-year-old Chara and not a Chara that is ten or so years younger. As it will for everyone, time has taken away some of his abilities. He is no longer on shortlists for the Norris Trophy and won’t give you the 40-50+ points a season.

Quite frankly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the grizzled veteran. How much did he have left if his former, long time team had basically said “enough, we’re moving on”? Me, having not watched a ton of Boston Bruins games, had he really declined that much?

The early results for Chara on this Capitals team I think have been terrific. His scoring has been higher than I expected, albeit he has just 4 points in the teams first 12 games. Still, that puts him on pace for 18 points if he plays in all 56 games this season. That pace would also put him on 27 points in an 82 game season which would be the highest total from him in three seasons.

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Defensively Chara has been pretty good as well. Looking at stats and watching games will tell you he has been one of the better Capitals defensemen.

He has the second best Corsi% on the team with a 49.59% rating, behind only Justin Schultz 53.70%. His scoring chance for% is only 47.37% which is fourth on the Capitals. That is better than the Capitals big guns of John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov, Carlson having a 44.44% SCF and Orlov having a 43.33%. Chara also has a 48.44% high danger attempts%, again fourth on the team and again ahead of the big boys Carlson and Orlov who are both between 45 and 46%.

The game is about goals though isn’t it? Chara is doing a good job while on the ice in that stat. While on the ice 5v5 the Caps have scored 12 goals and allowed 7. That means his goals for% is 63.16%, again second to only Schultz and his 80% GF%. To again compare to the Caps most important defensemen, Carlson has a 43.48% having 10 goals for and 13 against, and Orlov has a 43.75% having 7 for and 9 against.

In the expected goals department Chara is one of just two who are on the good side of 50%. He has a 51.01 expected goals% behind, once again Schultz and his 52.07%. Carlson and Orlov are the two worst Capitals in this stat. Carlson is at 43.44% while Orlov is sitting at 39.43%.

One surprising early stat is Chara is third among defensemen in individual scoring chances with 6. The leaders are tied at 7 those guys being Carlson and Schultz.

If there has been one area that I would be somewhat concerned with it’s been the turnovers from him. Out of all the defensemen I’ve noticed the turnovers from him the most. Looking at the stats that backs me up. So far this season Chara has committed 8 turnovers, the most among Capitals defensemen.

There are a couple of other things however that I’ve noticed that could be invaluable to this team. One is the team seems to love him being on their side. If you need any more evidence of this just go back several games ago when he scored his first goal as a Capital and how to team reacted. You don’t see reactions like that every day. Chara has a reputation as being one of the best guys in the game. You can tell people love him when they act like that.

Another incredibly valuable thing could be the leadership he brings, not to just the defensemen but the entire team. On a lot of the faceoffs when the cameras are on him you see him communicating with his teammates. I’ve noticed that more from him than seemingly anyone else.

Chara is a guy that has not only been on teams that have made deep playoff runs, he has been the captain of three recent teams that have won Stanley Cups or been to Cup finals. That experience is unbelievably useful. Think of a guy like Brooks Orpik who that Caps had when they won the Cup in 2018.

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I think the Chara signing has been a tremendous signing for the Capitals. While it was shocking and initially covered, I also think it maybe isn’t covered enough now. It could be a signing like this that takes the Capitals from first round losers to much higher places.

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