Senior general president and general manager Brian MacLellan has agreed with the Washington Capitals to sign defender Zdeno Chara on a $ 795,000 one-year contract.
“We are very pleased that Zdeno has joined the Capitals organization,” MacLellan said. “We feel that his experience and leadership will strengthen our blueline and our team.”
Chara (43) scored 14 points (5g, 9a) in 68 games with the Boston Bruins last season. The native of Trencin, Slovakia, recorded 3:11 time per game to reach 11th place in the NHL and help the Bruins with the third best penalty kill percentage last season (84.3). Chara also finished second among defenders of the Browns in blocks (101).
Prior to joining Washington, Chara was the longest-serving captain in the league, having carried the “C” for the Bruins since his first season in Boston in 2006-’07. He is 6 feet 9 and weighs 250 pounds and is also the tallest player to ever play in the NHL. Chara enters his 23rd career season in the NHL. Among active NHL players, Chara is first in plus / minus (+288), time on ice (37,128: 55), penalty minutes (1,956), third in games played (1,553) and ninth in shots (3 271). He is one of six Bruins to have appeared in at least 1,000 games (1,023), and his 481 points (148 g, 333 a) are third among Bruins defenders in franchise history, behind Hall of Famers Ray Bourque (1 506) and Bobby Orr (888).
In 1,533 regular-season games with the Bruins, New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators – the sixth most games in NHL history among defenders – Chara has 656 points (205 g, 451a).
A Stanley Cup champion alongside Boston in 2011, Chara became the second European-born captain to win the Stanley Cup (Nicklas Lidstrom) and the first from a country behind the Iron Curtain (Czechoslovakia). Chara scored 70 points (18g, 52a) in 195 playoff games, the ninth most playoff games by a defender in NHL history and the most among active defenders.
During his 22-year NHL career, Chara has received several individual accolades. He was awarded the Norris Trophy as the best defender in the NHL in 2008-09 after scoring a career-high 19 goals and 31 assists in 80 games with Boston. He was the recipient of the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2010-11 for his exemplary leadership on and off the ice. He was named to the NHL First All-Star Team three times (2003-04, 2008-09, 2013-14), the second All-Star Team four times (2005-06, 2007-08, 2010-11, 2011- 12) and is a six-time NHL All-Star (2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12). He was also three times the recipient of the Golden Puk as Slovakia’s Player of the Year (2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12).
Chara has represented his native Slovakia on several occasions in international play, including three Olympic Games (2006, 2010, 2014), in which he scored one goal and five assistants in 17 matches. Recently, Chara served as alternate captain for Team Europe during the 2016 World Cup hockey, scoring two goals in six games to lead the team to second place after Team Canada.
Chara was originally selected by the New York Islanders in the third round (56th overall) of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.