Zdeno Chara hopes his hard work off the ice keeps him on it

Zdeno Chara admitted on Tuesday that he wants to play beyond the 2017-18 season.

This isn’t news to Bruins fans. You’ve come to expect this from the 40-year-old captain, who has one year and $4 million remaining on his contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

It’s been well documented that he has no plans on hanging up his skates any time soon.

He’ll also admit his best years (“nomination years” as he described it in regards to the Norris Trophy) are behind him, but he believes he can still be effective and help the Bruins win. He always believed he could play for a long time if he remained healthy and in good shape.

He’s healthy. No doubt he’s in shape.

So, how does he do it? And, how long will it last?

Chara lives a clean life. He only eats healthy food. He exercises daily and goes to bed early. Alcohol? Only once when he drank out of the Stanley Cup.

Basically, he does everything he can in order for his body to recover properly during the season. Living this type of lifestyle has become second nature to him and he’s completely in tune with his body.

Because he understands exercise science pretty well, the Bruins allow him a bit of freedom when it comes to workout regimes. Chara understands he needs to find the balance between how hard he works on the ice, and how he can complement it off the ice.

Look, he’s not a robot. The process is slowing down for him, which is a natural progression. There was a time when he would punish himself in the gym to build muscle, but now he’s working on speed rather than strength.

Nowadays, he’ll do half the workout but get twice as much out of it.

“I love the game. I love the sacrifice. I love the training. I love everything about it,” he said.

Realistically, if he avoids major injuries, Chara should be able to play another 3-5 years.

“I don’t look at my age,” he said. “I look at what I can still do. I want to improve and play as long as I can.”

He stayed in Boston at the start of the offseason before returning to Slovakia. He recently returned to Boston and was on the ice with his teammates for captains’ practice on Tuesday at Warrior Ice Arena.

In the locker room afterward, he appeared in great shape and even smiled when he talked about his future.

“I definitely want to play beyond this season,” he said. “It’s really hard to put a number on it. Some people do, some people don’t. I just want to play longer than this season. Yeah, I just want to continue to play. I love this game too much and I want to keep playing.”

Great athletes are built with superior genetics. Mixed with clean lifestyle and logical training, Chara should be able to keep playing beyond this season.

Even at his age, his recovery time between shifts is outstanding, which is a direct result of the amount of ice time he logs each game.

“He trains for it. He takes pride in that part of it and he’s been very vocal about that. He works his ass off all summer and all winter so he can play all those minutes in all situations,” said Bruce Cassidy.

Here’s where it could get tricky.

No matter how well he keeps his body healthy and in shape, the game is changing rapidly. The influx of youth is making it a quicker game. The speed is off the charts, which doesn’t bode well for a 40-something with a 6-foot-9, 250-pound frame.

“It’s not that he won’t be in shape to play it, it will be he’s not physically built to play the way it’s played now,” said one NHL trainer. “The game will be so fast and so quick, it’ll be too fast for him. But he still has a few years left before it gets to that point.”

That’s why he’s tweaked his offseason routine and has put an emphasis on improving his quickness.

There will come a point in his career, however, when management and the coaching staff will have that conversation with him, the one when he’s told he’s no longer a top-pairing defenseman, the one when he’s told he’s no longer playing special teams.

Chara might accept it then, but he won’t now.

“You always have to prove yourself, no matter what age,” he said.