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Bruins Captain Zdeno Chara Placed On LTIR For Cap Relief

By Catherine Silverman

Oct 18, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres left wing Marcus Foligno (82) watches as Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) shoots the puck up ice during the first period at First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 18, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Buffalo Sabres left wing Marcus Foligno (82) watches as Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) shoots the puck up ice during the first period at First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Boston Bruins are stuck utilizing LTIR to recall players

For the past thirteen games, the Boston Bruins have been stuck playing without veteran captain Zdeno Chara.

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The 37-year-old blue liner, who went out with a knee injury in late October, was projected to be out five to six weeks — he’s missed thirteen games, surpassing his previous record for consecutive missed games with the franchise by an immense eight matchups.

Chara isn’t the team’s only casualty, though.

In the past week, the Bruins have scratched alternate captains Chris Kelly and David Krejci for unspecified injuries; in addition, top-six left wing Brad Marchand has been placed on long-term injured reserve for an injury he sustained last week during a game.

The team started out the season barely scraping under the cap as it is; both the team’s top restricted free agents, Reilly Smith and Torey Krug, had to be signed to minimal bridge deals in order to keep the team’s roster intact without trading away any more players than they already had. As it was, the Bruins has to let winger Jarome Iginla walk and had to trade defenseman Johnny Boychuk for draft picks — the team has virtually no salary space to bring on relief players.

With Chara, Kelly, Krejci, and Marchand all out, the team was faced with a tough decision — so, in order to get under the cap, both Marchand and Chara were placed on long-term injured reserve.

Per the 2013 CBA, this allows the team a sort of temporary ‘relief’ in cap space that enables them to call up players from the AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. It means that both Marchand and Chara cannot return for ten games — but luckily, Chara has already missed thirteen.

The only issue? Once Chara returns, he’ll bring his $7 million cap hit with him. Marchand’s LTIR status provides a bit of relief, but means he won’t be back until nearly Christmas — and in the meantime, any other players who might be temporarily injured will leave the team struggling to fill roster spots.

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