Caps Land Chara

Just after the Christmas holiday, the Caps announced that veteran goaltender Craig Anderson would be joining the team on a professional tryout agreement basis. The 39-year-old netminder instantly became the oldest player on Washington's training camp roster, but he's the oldest no longer.

On Wednesday, the Caps announced the signing of unrestricted free agent defenseman Zdeno Chara to a one-year contract for $795,000. Chara, drafted in the third round (No. 56 overall) of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, turns 44 in March, and he'll proceed directly into the Hockey Hall of Fame three years after the conclusion of his playing career.
Chara is a living legend who needs no introduction. After brief AHL apprenticeships in the long-gone outposts of Kentucky and Lowell, Chara ascended to the NHL with the New York Islanders, the team that drafted him in '96. He made his NHL debut at the age of 20 on Nov. 19, 1997 at Detroit, skating a scant 7:03 against the Red Wings, who were then in the midst of what would become a second straight Stanley Cup championship season.
In four seasons with the Isles, Chara never totaled more than two goals and 11 points in any campaign, and he rolled up a minus-61 in 231 games with New York.

Traded to Ottawa along with forward Bill Muckalt and a first-round pick in 2001 (second overall; the Sens used the choice to take Jason Spezza) in exchange for Alexei Yashin in the summer of '01, Chara quickly blossomed into a complete - and completely different - player with the Sens, forever stamping that trade as one of the worst in NHL history.
Although he played top four minutes on his final two seasons with the Islanders, Chara emerged as an All-Star caliber, top-pairing defender with Ottawa, totaling 10 goals and 23 points in his first season and drawing his first Norris votes in his second season on the Sens' blueline.
After four seasons and one deep playoff run with Ottawa, Chara became an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2005-06 season. The Caps made a multi-year offer in an effort to lure him to D.C. at that time, but Chara opted to sign with Boston, where he has spent the last 14 seasons, winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and advancing to the Cup Final in 2013 and 2019. He won the Norris Trophy as the League's top defenseman following the 2008-09 campaign, and he was a finalist for the award in 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
With Boston at the age of 42 last season, Chara averaged 21:01 per night in ice time, his 20th straight season averaging better than 21 minutes per night. He is one of only five NHL defensemen in history to suit up at the age of 42, joining Doug Harvey, Allan Stanley, Tim Horton and Chris Chelios - Hockey Hall of Famers, all - on that short list. Chelios and Chara are the only 42-year-old defensemen in the league since it started tracking ice time, and both averaged better than 21 minutes a night during their respective "age 42" seasons.
Chara accrued 3:11 of his nightly ice time while Boston was shorthanded last season, tying Washington's Jonas Siegenthaler for 11th in the league in average shorthanded ice time per game.
The 6-foot-9 Chara takes excellent care of himself and has obviously managed to retain a great deal of his hockey acumen years beyond his 40th birthday. With 1,553 career games played, Chara ranks 15th on the NHL's all-time list, and he is third among active players, trailing only Patrick Marleau (1,723) and Joe Thornton (1,636).
Among all defensemen in NHL history, only Chris Chelios (1,651), Scott Stevens (1,635), Larry Murphy (1,615), Raymond Bourque (1,612) and Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564) have played more games than Chara. All are enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Before signing with the Capitals, Chara sported the captain's "C" on his spoked-B sweater in Boston since his arrival in that city in 2006-07, a run of 14 straight seasons as team captain. In 2011, he followed in Lidstrom's skatesteps in becoming the second European-born captain to lead his team to a Stanley Cup title.
Along with Justin Schultz, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Paul Ladue, Chara becomes the fourth blueliner added to the Washington roster via free agency in the last three months. Chara is the first lefty of the quartet. The Capitals now have Brenden Dillon, Dmitry Orlov, Siegenthaler and Chara on the left side of their blueline depth chart, and they have John Carlson, Nick Jensen, Schultz, van Riemsdyk and Ladue on the right side.
Including last week's addition of Conor Sheary via unrestricted free agency, the Caps have added a total of six Cup championships to their roster over this unusual offseason; Sheary and Schultz have won twice with Pittsburgh and Chara and van Riemsdyk (Chicago) have played for a Cup-winner as well.