Zdeno Chara could miss rest of Cup Final with broken jaw - what are the options for Bruins on blue line?

Brad Marchand stated the obvious on Tuesday morning. At least, obvious to those who have seen the way Zdeno Chara carries himself on and off the ice.

Even after taking a deflected puck to the face and eventually exiting Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, Chara likely would have returned to the ice — fishbowl helmet and all — had it not been for some intervention from the Bruins’ medical staff.

“He's an absolute warrior,” Marchand said. “I think if it wasn't for the doctor, he would have played that game. He's an absolute leader.Those things, you gain respect for him every single day with what he's willing to go through, be part of the group, lead this team.”

Chara might have been ruled out, but the 42-year-old defenseman remained affixed on the Bruins’ bench for the remainder of an eventual 4-2 loss in Game 4, offering words of encouragement (or whatever he could muster following his injury) to his teammates. It speaks volumes as to the type of leader that Chara is, but he may not have another chance to take in a game from ice level this postseason — especially if the injury news is as bad as appears to be for Boston’s captain.

Already without two regular starters on the blue line in Kevan Miller (out since April 4 with a lower-body injury) and Matt Grzelcyk (out since Game 2 of Cup Final while in concussion protocol), the Bruins’ D corps is in line for its most daunting task yet: Forced to soldier on and scrap together the final two wins needed to win the Stanley Cup — without their top-pairing defenseman and go-to penalty killer.

Per Christian Fauria of WEEI and later reported by other outlets, Chara suffered a broken jaw off of that deflected puck from a Brayden Schenn shot — putting his availability for the rest of the Stanley Cup Final in doubt.

It’s a brutal development for the Bruins — who are now locked into a best-of-three series against St. Louis, with Game 5 set for Thursday night at TD Garden. Boston will need to get creative, given the other injuries that have sapped some of its reserve talent on defense, but Bruce Cassidy and his staff do have a number of contingency plans in place when it comes to bracing the B’s D corps for a pivotal bout on home ice.

Let’s take a look at a couple of the options that Cassidy can go to if Chara is not given the green light for Game 5.



Start Steven Kampfer

With John Moore deployed (16:08 ATOI this series) following Grzelcyk’s ailment, Kampfer remains as the lone NHL talent on Boston’s list of blue-line reserves. Appearing in 35 games during the regular season, Kampfer has made the most of his opportunities when Boston has needed reinforcements this postseason, scoring a goal and averaging 13:01 of ice time in two playoff outings against the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes this spring.

During his short sample size this postseason (23:55 of 5v5 TOI), Kampfer was out for 24 shot attempts in favor of the Bruins and 19 against (55.81 CF%), with Boston holding a 4-1 edge in high-danger scoring chances during that same stretch. Of course, a player of Kampfer’s stature (5-foot-11, 198 pounds) could find himself sandwiched in a hurry against a physical and often suffocating St. Louis forecheck, while his standing as a right-shot defenseman could cause some additional shuffling if he’s indeed the one set to replace a left-shot skater in Chara. Most likely, it’d be Kampfer that would draw the short straw when it comes to playing his weak side, likely settling into a bottom-pairing role with Connor Clifton if both Chara and Grzelcyk are still out.

Start Urho Vaakanainen

If Cassidy prioritizes the need to insert another left-shot D in place of Chara, it would likely be Vaakanainen that would get the call, a huge ask for a 20-year-old skater set to make his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, and just his third game up in the NHL ranks overall.

While the Finnish defenseman has seen his stock soar this season — especially back during training camp — due to his poise with the puck and skating ability, the Bruins could be playing with fire when it comes to rolling out a rookie and expecting him to emerge unscathed against whatever the Blues will throw at him in the B’s own zone.

Even before Chara’s injury, Vaakanainen was getting occasional practice reps with the rest of the Bruins — and Cassidy has been high on the youngster, who cracked the roster out of camp but was eventually sidelined for over two months after getting concussed by Ottawa’s Mark Borowiecki back on October 23.



Still, a 1-for-1 swap between Chara and Vaakanainen presents plenty of risk given the stage and opponent, even if Vaakanainen is limited to a third-pairing role.

The happy medium?

Play both Kampfer and Vaakanainen

If both Chara and Grzelcyk can’t play in Game 5, Cassidy could very well flip the whole lineup on its head and roll out an 11F-7D structure.

It’s an interesting alteration, but it does have plenty of benefits working in its favor — adding an extra bit of insurance in case another blueliner falls victim to injury (a recurring trend this series), while also giving taxed skaters like Charlie McAvoy (24:40 ATOI this series) and Torey Krug (24:26 ATOI) much more of a breather.

“The back end could have a domino effect. Again, speculation. I hate doing this,” Cassidy said. “If we are out two D, Grizz and Zee, we might have to play seven defensemen. Putting guys in that haven't played a ton. Maybe you got to look at how does this best work out to use a guy situationally, take Zee’s PK minutes, if the other guys match up, which of course would be reaching into an area that a young kid hasn't played in the playoffs at all.

“You have to be careful there. ... We've plugged a D in, it's worked well for us so far. That's the other option. I don't think we'll go any other route. We've gone this far. Those are our options right now. That's dictated by health right now.”

Some sluggish showings up front also could make things easier for Cassidy to roll out seven D and double-shift a player like Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson if necessary.

David Backes has not been the lone issue for the second line’s dip in production as of late, but the veteran seems to be the odd man out if Cassidy needs to cut down his forwards — with Backes’ last point coming back on May 12 against Carolina in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Both Coyle and Johansson are natural fits for some added reps up with Krejci and DeBrusk — logging 42:03 and 46:45 of 5v5 TOI, respectively, with the two stalwarts on Boston’s second line during the regular season. Still, even with their spike in production this postseason, there’s no guarantee that slotting either Coyle or Johansson up with Krejci/DeBrusk will get that line back on track.

After all, during the 88:48 of 5v5 TOI in which either the DeBrusk-Krejci-Coyle or Debrusk-Krejci-Johansson line was utilized during the regular season, Boston tallied a whopping one goal.

In other words, we won’t know for sure what we’re going to get out of Boston if Cassidy opts for 11F-7D structure — until Cassidy actually goes through with it.

Matt Grzelcyk returns

While the loss of Chara would still loom large on this series, getting Grzelcyk back into the fold would add some much-needed normalcy to Boston’s D corps — with Moore remaining down in a bottom pairing with Clifton and Grzelcyk getting bumped up to the top pair with his BU buddy in McAvoy.

During the regular season, a McAvoy-Grzelcyk tandem was effective, especially in the offensive zone — generating a 54.93 CF% and holding a plus-12 differential (42-30) when it comes to generating high-danger scoring chances.

However, there’s no definitive timetable for Grzelcyk to return to the lineup, especially with an injury as severe as a concussion. Fingers crossed if you’re the Bruins.

Zdeno Chara still plays

I mean, yikes. But would it really be a surprise considering who we’re talking about?

If Chara indeed does have a broken jaw, it wouldn’t be pretty if he’s somehow cleared to play in Game 5 and beyond. Beyond pain management, Chara would be a target for a Blues team that loves to throw its weight around — and knows that another high hit or elbow could do some major damage to Boston’s captain.

Still, it seems unlikely that Chara returns — given that Krug suffered a similar injury last preseason and was re-evaluated three weeks later. The Stanley Cup Final is a whole 'nother animal when compared to the preseason, but still — seeing Chara back on the ice is looking more and more like a pipe dream if the official diagnosis is indeed a broken jaw.

“I think every player is hurt this time of year,” Cassidy said. “I always thought there's a difference between injured and hurt. When you're injured, you're on the injury list, you're on it because you can't play. Hurt, I don't think there's one guy on the ice Thursday night that isn't hurt in some way.”