Z's knee

[Titoschew]

Pertaining to tonight:

“@TSNAaronWard: Boston Bruins Zdeno Chara has suspected left knee injury. Expected to undergo further tests/evaluation at hospital. #TSN”

 

[The Napkin]

Well that'd about kill this season. Fuck.

 

[RedOctober3829]

What is it with our D men and knee injuries??? Fuck me.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Maybe it will only be a 3 month injury and he'll be fresh for the playoffs???

 

[Titoschew]

We got 8 others, we'll be fine.

 

[Dropkick Izzy]

http://nesn.com/2014/10/zdeno-chara-wont-return-to-bruins-islanders-due-to-undisclosed-injury/
 
And here's the hit in question (apparently):
 

 
I don't think it looked that bad but who knows.

 

[cshea]

A tad knee-on-knee but it doesn't seem all that bad. Hockey gods are cruel. Chara goes down the night Boychuk returns. 
 
McDavid here we come, baby! 

 

[Ed Hillel]

Ouch. Hopefully just a bone bruise.

 

[cshea]

 

Aaron Ward ‏@TSNAaronWard  1m1 minute ago
Bruins Zdeno Chara suspected left knee ligament injury.Expected out 4-6 weeks at which time they'll evaluate need for surgery or not. #TSN

 
So yeah. Not good. 
 
I love how Wardo pretty much only breaks Bruins news. Wonder who his mole is inside the dressing room. 

 

[Titoschew]

So wait 4-6 weeks then decide on surgery?

 

[veritas]

I think that rules out an ACL and suggests MCL. Which is less terrible.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Sounds pretty bad. That kind of season.

 

[Salem's Lot]

So wait 4-6 weeks then decide on surgery?

Paging Dr. Geary..... Seriously does this sound like an MCL? Or something else?

 

[Titoschew]

Didn't think we'd be in "looking for borderline scrap heap depth defenseman" mode at Halloween that's for sure.

 

[cshea]

I suppose the good news is only 5 of their next 15 games are against playoff teams, so if there was a time in the schedule for this to happen it might as well be now. That'll take them to December where they head out on the murderous California trip. 

 

[Auger34]

I play Emmanuel Sanders in fantasy and now this. Today will live in infamy

 

[LogansDad]

I hate 2014.

 

[Dan to Theo to Ben]

It's October, we don't know who are the 2015 playoff teams yet. Wish we still had a surprlus of NHL-ready Dmen. Can we get Boychuk back if we give the Isles more than we got?

 

[The Mort Report]

I think we have all seen in the new NHL that seeding matters fairly little come playoff time, especially compared to other sports.  Its all about who can win in the other team's building.  So if the B's suffer the next month or two without Z and they end up a 4 or 5 seed instead of a 1 who cares?  Might be a blessing in disguise as some have pointed out that maybe Z will not be worn down with the 2 months off.  I hope this does not cause the team to make an irrational trade

 

[Salem's Lot]

It's October, we don't know who are the 2015 playoff teams yet. Wish we still had a surprlus of NHL-ready Dmen. Can we get Boychuk back if we give the Isles more than we got?

I'm so sick of the overrating of Johnny Boychuk. I like Boychuk, I really do. He was a steady 2nd pairing defenseman. He scored some big goals in the playoffs. To top it off I know from several times meeting him around Wilmington that he's a really great guy. However, if Zdeno Chara is out for an extended period of time they are screwed defensively, and it actually makes the fact that they traded Boychuk at the height of his value an even better move. He's 31 and a UFA at the end of a year that they're not winning the Stanley Cup anyway. He's exactly the guy they should be trading.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Paging Dr. Geary..... Seriously does this sound like an MCL? Or something else?

It looked like a direct blunt force hit to the knee in that clip with Chara's knee slightly bent which could also involve the PCL.

 

[CaptainLaddie]

ESPN: Chara out 4-6 weeks.
 
Could be a lot fucking worse.

 

[radsoxfan]

It looked like a direct blunt force hit to the knee in that clip with Chara's knee slightly bent which could also involve the PCL.

 
Could be PCL. Sorta a "dashboard injury" mechanism.
 
If that video is the injury, doesn't really look like MCL.   The 4-6 week then "wait and see about surgery" also doesn't really make much sense for MCL.

 

[Toe Nash]

I'm so sick of the overrating of Johnny Boychuk. I like Boychuk, I really do. He was a steady 2nd pairing defenseman. He scored some big goals in the playoffs. To top it off I know from several times meeting him around Wilmington that he's a really great guy. However, if Zdeno Chara is out for an extended period of time they are screwed defensively, and it actually makes the fact that they traded Boychuk at the height of his value an even better move. He's 31 and a UFA at the end of a year that they're not winning the Stanley Cup anyway. He's exactly the guy they should be trading.

What if Chara is out until February but they miss the playoffs because they have one legit defenseman?
 
It's kind of like the "backing up Brady" argument. Yes, if Brady is out for the whole year the Pats aren't doing anything. But if he misses part of the year you don't want to miss the playoffs because you had Curtis Painter backing him up. If Z's not out for the year, they still hope to compete and Boychuk would help with that.
 
Not to mention when Chara returns, if they are trailing in the standings, he's going to be relied on even more heavily because they don't have someone who can pick up the slack, which is going to wear him down for the playoffs.
 
Anyway, the hope is it's really just 4-6 weeks, which is pretty manageable and shouldn't really affect their chances much. 

 

[Eddie Jurak]

ESPN: Chara out 4-6 weeks.
 
Could be a lot fucking worse.

 
4-6 weeks is not nearly long enough to wreck the season.  The problem will be if he comes back limited, needs surgery after the season, etc.
 
If he's basically good-to-go at week 6, this could be a blessing in disguise.  (But that is probably unlikely).
 
Who comes up?  A left shot (Warsofsky, Morrow), with Krug staying on Seidenberg's right; or a right shot (Casto, Trotman) with Krug shifting back left.  I would lean towards the former, given that the Sharks game was the best we have seen Seidenberg look all year.  But that would mean playing Hamilton with Bart or with the new callup.
 
As far as how people are doing through 5 games in Providence:
 
Morrow (L)  1-2-2, +4
Eminger (R) 0-1-1 +2 (2 GP)
Youds (R) 0-1-1 +2 (2 GP)
Trotman (R) 0-1-1 -4
Cross (L)  0-0-0, +1 (1 GP)
Breen  (L)  0-0-0, even
Casto (R) 0-0-0 +1
Warsofsky(L) 0-0-0 -5

 

[Eddie Jurak]

What if Chara is out until February but they miss the playoffs because they have one legit defenseman?
 
 

Krug, Hamilton, Seidenberg are all legit defensemen.  If Chara's not healthy for the playoffs, they will not go far.  But if Chara alone is the difference between making or missing the playoffs, then even with him healthy they are not going far.

 

[Harry Hooper]

I think the "wear down for the playoffs" meme for Chara is off the mark. The sad reality is Chara wears down IN the playoffs. He's too old now to carry a heavy load of minutes in playoff games. The potential blessing in disguise here is getting the young'uns on D to up their game in his absence.

 

[smastroyin]

What's hard to figure is if the team will respond at all. This is horrible news but they could survive it if the other 22 guys get their shit together. I think what's worrisome is they've looked so bad with Chara, you wonder what will happen now.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Here are the games for the next 6 weeks.
 
at Toronto
Minnesota
Buffalo
Ottawa
Florida
Edmonton
NJ
at Toronto
at Montreal
Carolina
St. Louis
at Columbus
Montreal
Pittsburgh
Winnipeg
at Anaheim
at LA
at SJ
at Arizona
 
That's 19 games over the next 6 weeks.  The first half of this stretch looks manageable, but then you have Montreal twice, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and then the West Coast swing the first week of December.  Brutal.  Hope he's back closer to that 4 week timetable than 6.

 

[Titoschew]

We're not the only ones confused as to what 4-6 weeks out and needing that long to evaluate surgery means in terms of what is actually wrong:
 
Will Carroll ‏@injuryexpert  13m13 minutes ago
4-6 weeks out, surgery on the table for Chara … stumped on what that means given the mechanism.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Trotman and Morrow recalled.

https://twitter.com/markdivver/status/525629130617126912

https://twitter.com/markdivver/status/525629130617126912

link to tweet

 

[RedOctober3829]

Could the 4-6 weeks be to see if he can rehab a partially torn ACL and if he can't he'll get it repaired?  Just trying to think of something that would require that kind of wording.

 

[smastroyin]

Maybe the wording should be "during which time they will evaluate the need for surgery."
 
I'm sure they will do a full battery of tests today and monitor him as he rests, not wait until 28 days from now to see if he needs surgery.  But they may see how rest helps before making that decision.  To be honest, surgery might mean no season for him so you can put it off and risk him missing training camp next year in exchange for the chance he'll not need it.

 

[Toe Nash]

Krug, Hamilton, Seidenberg are all legit defensemen.  If Chara's not healthy for the playoffs, they will not go far.  But if Chara alone is the difference between making or missing the playoffs, then even with him healthy they are not going far.

I forgot about Krug, though he's been very sheltered his whole career so we're not sure what he would do with tougher minutes (though I'm optimistic he'd be OK). Seidenberg is not close to back and it's not clear he ever will be. He was declining (putting up awful possession numbers) before he hurt his knee.
 
The point is that Boychuk could have stepped up his minutes in Chara's absence and now he can't. The worry when they traded him was that Seidenberg would not be back to 1A status, Bartkowski / Miller / whoever may not step up, and thus an injury would leave them very weak. That's why he was an important piece to have around even if you were going to lose him at the end of the year. The first two are still in doubt, but early results aren't great.

 

[Red Right Ankle]

Maybe the wording should be "during which time they will evaluate the need for surgery."
 
I'm sure they will do a full battery of tests today and monitor him as he rests, not wait until 28 days from now to see if he needs surgery.  But they may see how rest helps before making that decision.  To be honest, surgery might mean no season for him so you can put it off and risk him missing training camp next year in exchange for the chance he'll not need it.

Yeah, it would be utter mismanagement if this is not the case.  This Bs team has not been run that poorly, so I suspect it is.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Felger couldn't sleep last night he is so giddy for today's show.

 

[locknload]

I'll echo the if this is a true 4-6 week thing and he comes back %100 this is a blessing in disguise.  For the playoffs you just need a ticket to the dance.  However if this is season-ending I'm all about a bridge year where we play some kids.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I'll echo the if this is a true 4-6 week thing and he comes back %100 this is a blessing in disguise.  For the playoffs you just need a ticket to the dance.  However if this is season-ending I'm all about a bridge year where we play some kids.

 
I'm all for getting the kids worked if if Z is out for a while, but it's only 9 games into the year so for me thinking of a bridge year isn't realistic at this point in time.

 

[cshea]

For now, the team needs to hopefully tread water through the 4-6 weeks and see where they stand when the surgery decision needs to be made. 5 of the next 15 games are against non-playoff teams from a year ago, so schedule wise this is the best part of the year for this to happen. There isn't a need to rush out and do something rash, plug the kids in for the interim and hope for the best. I think it would be a waste of resources to use assets to acquire a replacement before we know the full extent of the injury and how long Chara's lost for. If he's gone for the year, the Bruins would probably be better served to hang on to assets and stay the course instead of shoving the chips all in. 
 
Seidenberg - Hamilton
Krug - McQuaid
Bartkowski - Trotman
 
That is my guess at the Chara-less defense, at least until Miller comes back. I'm not sure how Morrow fits, I'd rather he continue getting top pairing minutes down in Providence. 
 
edit: And we get our Morrow answer....woooo!
 

Mark Divver ‏@MarkDivver  57s57 seconds ago
Hearing that McQuaid might be banged up a bit, which could be why 2 defensemen up from @AHLBruins
 

 

[TSC]

Oh boy.
 
So...
 
Seids / Krug
Trotman / Dougie
Bart / Morrow
 
?
 
Maybe? That's a..not good defense. 
 
It also has the potential to be the fastest defense the Bruins have maybe ever put out there.

 

[Titoschew]

@GlobeFluto  19s20 seconds ago
Chiarelli: posterior cruciate ligament tear. Out 4-6 weeks. Conservative timeframe.

 

[cshea]

No surgery. All in all the best case scenario. 

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Between Rondo's hand and Chara's knee I feel like I'm living vicariously through these guys as I've experienced both injuries. I felt Rondo would be cleared to play by week 5-6 rather than the initial 8 week report based on my recovery (next week begins week 5) and I'll go on record as saying I'd be shocked if Chara is on the ice in 4-6 weeks.....shocked.

 

[TSC]

Between Rondo's hand and Chara's knee I feel like I'm living vicariously through these guys as I've experienced both injuries. I felt Rondo would be cleared to play by week 5-6 rather than the initial 8 week report based on my recovery (next week begins week 5) and I'll go on record as saying I'd be shocked if Chara is on the ice in 4-6 weeks.....shocked.

 
:speechless:

 

[FL4WL3SS]

Is Chara LTIR eligible? Can they save some money on the cap with him out?
 
Hopefully.

 

[TSC]

Is Chara LTIR eligible? Can they save some money on the cap with him out?
 
Hopefully.

 
To what end? 

 

[cshea]

LTIR is only useful if the injury is season ending.

 

[TheRealness]

No surgery. All in all the best case scenario. 

 
Has this been confirmed somewhere?

 

[Red Right Ankle]

LTIR is only useful if the injury is season ending.

Detail on this:
 

 
Teams are eligible to receive cap relief when a player is considered to have a "bona-fide long-term injury" — injuries that cause a player to miss at least 10 games and 24 days. In such cases, the team can place the player on long-term injured reserve (LTIR).
The placement of a player on LTIR does not remove the player's cap hit from the team's cap payroll — the cap hit continues to count toward the team’s cap payroll as it always did. The placement of a player on LTIR also does not provide the team with any additional cap-space savings that can be “banked” for future use while the team operates below the upper limit.
Placing a player on LTIR only provides relief if the team's cap payroll or "Averaged Club Salary" begins to exceed the upper limit. The amount of LTI relief is limited to the amount by which the team has exceeded the upper limit — less the amount of cap space the team had at the time the LTIR transaction took place. That means the amount of LTI relief is not the entire amount of the injured player's salary, although teams often make small transactions to ensure it is close.
Eligible long-term injury space is calculated on the day the player is placed on LTIR.

 
For the time Z is out, the Bs could exceed the cap limit, but once he's back, they'd have to be under.  So they couldn't use this to add anybody expensive or anything.

 

[FL4WL3SS]

 
To what end? 

Don't understand your question brohammer.
 
Thanks TSOYRRA