3. Ottawa Senators
Before becoming a true icon for the Boston Bruins, Zdeno Chara actually pulled on the uniform of the Ottawa Senators, recording 146 points (51 G, 95 A) in 299 career regular season games, before signing a five-year, $37.5 million contract with the B’s as an Unrestricted Free Agent on July. 2, 2006.
It was without doubt one that got away for the Senators but they now have the chance to rewrite history somewhat should they so wish.
Granted, Chara is no longer at the peak of his powers and is arguably a shadow of his former elite self, but he’s still got something left in the tank and could no doubt play a role for a young Senators team currently navigating their way through a rebuild.
Having seemingly turned a corner with a solid and productive offseason following a few chaotic years, the Senators are on the cusp of turning a big corner but it may take another year or two before they can be considered truly competitive.
They’ve certainly got talent with the likes of forwards Brady Tkachuk and Colin White and defensemen Thomas Chabot and Erik Brannstrom, while the offseason additions of goalie Matt Murray and productive scorer Evgeni Dadonov will make them a much tougher out in 2020-21.
However, you could put forward a strong case that Ottawa will need some more experience and some more leadership, and that’s where Chara comes in.
At 43-years-old and with 656 points (205 G, 451 A) in 1,553 career regular season games in the NHL, in addition to 70 points (18 G, 52 A) in 195 career postseason games and one Stanley Cup to his name, Chara has been there, done it and got the rather large t-shirt in the National Hockey League.
He’s been through the adversity, he’s been through rebuilds and retools and he knows what it takes to climb the mountain and win the greatest prize in all of sports, invaluable knowledge for this young Sens team.
Chara could be the perfect mentor and role model for the likes of Brannstrom on the backend, while his ability to log big minutes, play in all situations and excel on the power play and the penalty kill could help to ease the pressure on Chabot.
Most importantly, however, is the fact that Chara could be a real culture changer for this Ottawa Senators franchise, and he could be the spark they need to finally right the ship and maximise the talent of their prospects and young studs.
Plus, flush in cap space with $12,502,501, the Ottawa Senators could easily afford to sign Zdeno Chara to a short-term deal and go some way to atoning for their critical and devastating mistake of letting the future Hall of Famer walk in Free Agency all those years ago.