Chara; Savard to bruins

[grits207]

Zdeno Chara has signed a 5 year 37.5 million contract with the B's

Awesome signing for the Bruins maybe overpaid for him but he can be one of the most dominating players in the league.

[KB in Kelowna]

the cast of characters around him is not that great, but he might be a good player to build around.

[PDO]

Added Savard.

5 years and 20 million for Savard.

[KB in Kelowna]

no Hossa and Kovalchuk, good luck producing that 97 point season again Marc!

[TimmyTabasco]

Chara, and Savard? :rolleyes:

[grits207]

Savard will deffinatly not get 97 points with the B's but is still a good pickup.

[charlio lemieux]

They will love Savard in beantown when he does his 10 - 20 game disappearing act.

Chara can wear Gill's old Uni.

[spylogic3]

Zdeno Chara has signed a 5 year 37.5 million contract with the B's
Supposedly, the Kings and the Rangers wanted him, too.

I was watching the sports news and they were saying that Chiarelli must have been working both sides of the table.

[Madferret]

I'm sure Chiarelli had no hand involved in this...:rolleyes:
Chara..you just cemented yourself next to Yashin in my books buddy. Class-less.

[Newfie John]

Boston's management will never cease to amaze me.

[The Insider]

You had to know that when Chara did not re-sign with Ottawa he clearly was not looking to go to a place where he could have a chance to win. So that's why he ended up in Boston for the price tag he did. Which don't get me wrong is his decision after a couple of big seasons in the capital, I was hoping if not Ottawa he'd go out of the Northeast, but alas we will still see him 8 times a year.

As for Savard, the guy is a decent player but unless Boston finds a few guys to surround him with, it's wasted money because you cannot give a point producer like him the ball and say make everyone better because that is not his game.

[Newfie John]

You had to know that when Chara did not re-sign with Ottawa he clearly was not looking to go to a place where he could have a chance to win. So that's why he ended up in Boston for the price tag he did. Which don't get me wrong is his decision after a couple of big seasons in the capital, I was hoping if not Ottawa he'd go out of the Northeast, but alas we will still see him 8 times a year.

As for Savard, the guy is a decent player but unless Boston finds a few guys to surround him with, it's wasted money because you cannot give a point producer like him the ball and say make everyone better because that is not his game.

I'm not worried about Chara staying away from the NE, as long as he's not playing with Redden. Now if Boston can get a great mobile defencemen to play with Chara I'd be worried but as it stands right now all you have to do is put a good forecheck on him and he won't know what to do with himself.

[Madferret]

A good article Garrioch wrote about it..(I know, another good article from Garrioch..WTF?!?!)

Chiarelli pulls rug from under Sens
Outgoing assistant GM must feel pretty good about leaving for Boston with Chara in tow
By Bruce Garrioch

The good news: Zdeno Chara didn't sign with the arch-rival Maple Leafs.

The bad news: His choice of a new home isn't much better for Ottawa.

Peter Chiarelli got the last laugh on the Senators yesterday and owner Eugene Melnyk must be furious.

The outgoing Ottawa assistant GM couldn't participate in contract negotiations, but he must have had a smile a mile wide when he found out Chara had signed a five-year, $37.5-million (all terms US) agreement with the Bruins -- the team Chiarelli will take over in two weeks.

Under an agreement with the league, Chiarelli is supposed to be employed by the Senators until July 15, but it would hardly be surprising if he finds whatever he's allowed to take with him to Boston sitting on the sidewalk today.

Because of conflict-of-interest issues, Chiarelli wasn't allowed to actively participate in discussions with assistant GM Jeff Gorton or give his opinion to a league mediator on matters that involved former Ottawa players.

But, if Chiarelli was working yesterday in his Scotiabank Place office next to Ottawa GM John Muckler, he must have been howling when word came down around 3 p.m. on the opening day of NHL free agency the Bruins had signed Chara.

Nobody connected to the Senators could be to be happy about this.

You can bet Melnyk wasn't in the mood for any Canada Day party at his palatial home in Barbados when he learned that Chiarelli -- a valued former employee -- is going to bring one of the most coveted defencemen in the league with him to Boston next season.

Melnyk said after another disappointing playoff loss in the spring that he would do "whatever it takes" to get this team to the next level and help the club win a Stanley Cup.

It was Melnyk, Senators president Roy Mlakar and Muckler who insisted that if Chiarelli was going to go to Boston, he shouldn't be allowed to participate in the free-agent period because he was well aware of Ottawa's plans.

However, when Chiarelli interviewed for the Bruins' job in May, he presented Boston with a detailed proposal, which included a list of the players he wanted to bring back, the free agents he wanted to chase and what his plan would be going into September.

No, Chiarelli wasn't allowed to have any discussions with Chara or his Boston-based agent Matt Keator regarding Bruins business, but he had been active with Muckler in trying to keep Chara in Ottawa.

The Senators made a choice Friday, deciding to keep defenceman Wade Redden for $6.5 million a season for the next two years.

After that, Muckler declared he was no longer going to try and keep Chara, causing the ears of GMs across the league to perk up.

There is sense among NHL insiders that the Senators didn't believe Chara would get as much as he did on the open market.

Last month, Muckler was upset at a report that suggested the Rangers were prepared to offer Chara an average of $8 million per season and the word is the boys on Broadway came close to that figure, but didn't quite go all the way.

The Senators knew it was going to be difficult to keep Chara when they decided to let him test the free-agent market, but they probably had hoped a team like Los Angeles, Phoenix or San Jose would have stepped up to make a deal with the 6-foot-9 giant.

Eight reminders a season

You see, every time the Senators play the Bruins -- and that's eight times a season -- in the next five years, they're going to be reminded of the one that got away.

Forty times in all ... that an all-star blueliner, who couldn't come to an agreement with the Senators, was simply allowed to walk away with no compensation.

It's going to hurt even more if Chiarelli gets the Bruins back on track and turns them into a playoff contender. He's made steps in the right direction by firing coach Mike Sullivan, hiring coach Dave Lewis and then dipping into the free-agent market to sign Chara and Atlanta centre Marc Savard, a native of Orleans.

Since Chara also has to get his change of address cards together, maybe he can call Chiarelli and ask him to pick up whatever equipment is left in the Ottawa dressing room so he can bring it with him to Boston.

bruce.garrioch@ott.sunpub.com

[jdwyer]

Eight reminders a season

You see, every time the Senators play the Bruins -- and that's eight times a season -- in the next five years, they're going to be reminded of the one that got away.

Well, If I remember correctly, the Bruins managed to beat Chara and the Sens more often than not last season. Maybe the Sens sans the big lug will return the favor? I hope not.

[Madferret]

I'm not worried about Chara staying away from the NE, as long as he's not playing with Redden. Now if Boston can get a great mobile defencemen to play with Chara I'd be worried but as it stands right now all you have to do is put a good forecheck on him and he won't know what to do with himself.

John Chara's partner was Phillips, rarely Redden...

[Newfie John]

John Chara's partner was Phillips, rarely Redden...

Are you serious? I could have sworn each time I seen him Redden was on his pairing.

[Madferret]

Are you serious? I could have sworn each time I seen him Redden was on his pairing.

Yup. Redden played with Mez.

Red / Mez
Chara / Phillips
Pothier / Volch

[Newfie John]

Yup. Redden played with Mez.

Red / Mez
Chara / Phillips
Pothier / Volch


You're right. Before last season he played with Redden, correct? Also, on the PP he played with Redden didn't he?