The NHL season has been suspended. The latest recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would shut the league at least until May 10. That’s not frightful, as the Stanley Cup playoffs would begin a month later than previously planned.
However, there is an increased chance of the NHL season being done for good. The Bruins are one of the teams with a lot of salary cap space in the offseason (more than $20 million). On the other hand, they have one of the biggest numbers of free agents, such Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Jaroslav Halak, Matt Grzelcyk, and Jake Debrusk, to name the few.
They cannot improvise and spend this difficult time negotiating the new contracts and deals with the players because the future is uncertain. The July 1 free agency window likely moves forward in the calendar. Nobody knows how the salary cap situation would be solved in the case of the NHL season cancelation.
One of the most interesting situations is Zdeno Chara. This Wednesday, March 18, Chara will celebrate his 43rd birthday. A year ago, at the same time, Chara signed a one-year contract extension as the Bruins geared up for the Stanley Cup run under his captaincy.
This time around, the situation is much different.
According to the Boston Globe, the contract extension for Chara is the last thing that the club, player, and his agent are pondering about. There is a chance that the salary cap space stays at $81.5 million or even goes below this figure. For the cap-crunched Bruins, that would spell disaster. Finding a space for Chara could be out of hand.
Rather than playing elsewhere, Chara could opt for retirement instead. Especially for the older players, it is a cruel time. What Chara was denied last June, he wanted to obtain this time around.
Patrick Marleau went to the Pittsburgh Penguins to chase his first Stanley Cup … and now, this happens.
Nobody wishes it, but it is a realistic option. Chara could have played his last NHL game when he captained the Bruins in a 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.
Hopefully, that’s not the case, though, and we will get to see Chara playing in a Bruins uniform once again.
