The Bruins need help on the left side of their defense. Zdeno Chara remains without a contract.
A reunion remains uncertain.
After Bruins president Cam Neely chose his words carefully regarding the Bruins’ longtime captain’s status, Chara’s agent told the Globe on Monday that his client had options beyond the city he has called home for nearly 15 years.
“First and foremost, he’s interested in staying in Boston,” Wellesley-based Matt Keator said. “He could retire. Or he could pick another team. I’ve had 20-plus teams call me, but honestly, we haven’t gotten too into that. Our focus right now, his focus right now, is to talk to the Bruins, and let’s see where it goes.
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“We have plenty of time,” Keator added. Training camp begins 13 days from Monday. The 56-game season will begin Jan. 13.
Meanwhile, Neely was noncommittal when asked if the Bruins were holding a spot for Chara.
“I think it really depends on what he feels he can do to help us, and we have to feel the same way,” Neely said on a Zoom call. “How that looks — is that something that he would be comfortable with, how we maybe envision it looking, compared to maybe how he feels it may look?”
This is a difficult time, Neely continued, for any player jumping into a condensed schedule after a long offseason. Chara, who turns 44 in March, will be knocking off rust after playing 13 games in the last nine months. A season that begins Jan. 13 and ends May 9 leaves 116 days to play 56 games, with regular back-to-backs.
The upcoming 10-day training camp with zero exhibition games means Chara will have little time to find his legs. It also means that former first-round picks Jakub Zboril, 23, and Urho Vaakanainen, 21, won’t have much time to express their development. Those two and Matt Grzelcyk, John Moore, and Jeremy Lauzon are the Bruins’ left-shot defensemen under contract. With Torey Krug gone and Chara’s future murky, the Bruins need youth to pull on the rope.
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Chara averaged 19 minutes, 47 seconds of ice time in last summer’s playoffs, after logging 21:01 in the regular season. His TOI could be further reduced this year, as the Bruins try to rework their defense.
“For me it’s tough to say,” Neely said, when asked about Chara’s potential role. “You know we do want to take a look at some of these young left shot D’s that we have in our system to see if they can step up . . . We certainly respect Zdeno and everything he’s done for the organization and what he’s accomplished as a player and what he’s done both on and off the ice here in Boston, so it’s really just a matter of what his desire is and how the coaching staff and we feel what our lineup should look like, or could look like, depending on the development of some of these young guys.”
Money doesn’t appear to be a major issue. According to CapFriendly, the Bruins have just shy of $3 million in salary cap room. That should be enough for Chara, who last year earned $2 million in base salary, with $1.75 million in performance bonuses.
Neely said the Bruins could still peruse the market of available defensemen, via trade or free agency.
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“I still think we’d like to explore our back end a little bit,” he said. “Even though we feel we’ve got some guys that can step in, it’s just a matter of the experience piece that everybody likes. You don’t get experience until you play.”
Citing an unnamed league source, the Athletic reported that the Bruins wanted to assess outside options before deciding whether to bring back their captain. Keator said that has not been part of the discussion with the Bruins. “They haven’t said that at all to us,” Keator said.
Chara is training at his offseason home in Sarasota, Fla., where Keator met with him last week. The NHL’s plan to play at home rinks, rather than a bubble, earned Chara’s approval.
“The fact they’re going to play home games at home, helps,” Keator said. “That’s important to any player, I don’t care who it is.”
Other notes from Neely’s chat:
▪ Brad Marchand (sports hernia surgery) has been on the ice a few times. David Pastrnak (hip) returned to Boston recently and continues to rehab. Marchand is expected back in mid-January, Pastrnak a month later. Both had surgeries in mid-September.
▪ To date, no players have informed the Bruins they are opting out. Last summer, Steve Kampfer did not return because of potential COVID-19 impact on a heart condition shared by his wife and young son. Tuukka Rask left the bubble because of a family emergency.
▪ With fans unable to attend games at TD Garden at the start of the year, season-ticket holders can “leave their money on hand and get interest and have flat pricing for next year,” Neely said, or “request a refund” for tickets. Two season-ticket holders told the Globe the Bruins are offering 5 percent and flat pricing if they commit to this season — however it unfolds — and next season. Another option: apply unused tickets toward an expected price increase next year.
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▪ The Bruins “looked hard” at playing outdoor games, Neely said, but it did not make sense financially, given the number of fans expected to be able to attend.
▪ Fan safety protocols at TD Garden will include socially-distanced entry to the building and seating areas; restrooms “outfitted for protection,” and concessions with online ordering and designated pick-up locations. A Globe story from May outlined how Delaware North, the Bruins and TD Garden’s parent company, was also considering mandatory masks, body temperature readings, and reserved entry times.
▪ The Bruins hope to host a full building in 2021. “Is it going to be in May? June? July? It’s hard to say,” Neely said. “Are we going to get fans in the building at some point in January? I’m not sure. February? It’s out of our control.”
Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.