Chara said he expects his recovery to take 5-6 weeks. The wires will be removed, but he said he does not anticipate having any more procedures on his jaw. He said he will be ready for training camp, returning to the Bruins for the 2019-20 season after signing a one-year contract worth $2 million (with $1.75 million in performance-based incentives) on March 23.
Chara said he might have returned to play the third period of Game 4 but instead listened to the orders of doctors. He sat on the bench to support his teammates in a 4-2 loss, then played 16:42 in Game 5, a 2-1 loss, and scored while playing 22:15 in a 5-1, Game 6 win. He played 16:11 in the 4-1, Game 7 loss.
Chara said he is waiting on results of scans and MRIs related to a lower-body injury that forced him to leave Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes. He would not specify what that injury was, but said it was reaggravated with about three minutes left in Game 3 of what became a sweep. Had the situation been different and the series been tighter, Chara said he might have tried to play in Game 4, but because it was something that was "kind of bothering me for a long period of time and just keep re-aggravating" it, the decision was made to not make the situation worse.
"It's been obviously kind of a tougher stretch in the playoffs as far as getting some bumps and bruises, but that's just a part of it," Chara said before thanking the doctors and nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital by name for what they did fixing his jaw and allowing him to play in Game 5 of the Cup Final.
"My original plan was to go back in and play (in Game 4). I wanted to play really badly. It was a very close game and we were still obviously in a great position, but sometimes you have to respect the knowledge that the medical decision is the right one and, in that case, obviously it was. It could be a lot worse maybe if something else happened to the same area.
"But I just wanted to be with the guys. I wanted to be there to support them."
Chara said that had the Bruins lost a defenseman or two in the third period, he would have returned to the game, no matter what the medical advice was.
"At that point, I would not ask," he said. "I would be willing to obviously play."