Signing veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara was certainly an interesting experiment by New York Islanders’ President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello.

It was a nice reunion — the Islanders drafted Chara 56th overall in the 1996 NHL Draft. It gave the Islanders a veteran leader — Chara was the captain of the Boston Bruins for all of his 14 seasons with the team. And who knows? Maybe Chara had a chance to be successful in a part-time role.

What has happened since has been nothing short of a disaster. Chara has struggled in almost all areas of the game, and has cost the Islanders much-needed points on multiple occasions.

Chara’s Rough Start

Analytically, Chara — who has six assists in 40 games — has not just been one of the worst players on the Islanders during the 2021-22 season, but one of the worst players in the NHL. He is dead-last on the team in multiple analytical categories, all while playing top-four minutes in almost every game.

Chara on the #isles (5v5; Ranking out of 9 D)

GA/60: 5th**
SA/60: 9th (last)
FA/60: 9th (last)
CA/60: 9th (last)
xGA/60: 7th (beat out Salo & Aho)

*Tonight’s game probably won’t help his stats

And he’s definitely not being played for his offensive prowess.

— nyclanders (@nyclanders) February 16, 2022

Admittedly, Chara has played slightly better since January, but he had a brutal start to the season. As of Dec. 15, Chara’s Expected Goals Above Replacement (xGAR), a metric that tries to assign a numerical value to each player, lied at -5.6, dead last among Islanders. For perspective, at that time, no other Islander has posted an xGAR below -2.1 and no other player in the NHL had posted a xGAR below -5. Per xGAR, Chara was the only NHL player to cost his team an entire win by Dec. 15.

Two months into the season, Chara was perhaps the worst player in hockey — and was on pace to have one of the worst seasons in team history.

An Array Of Struggles

There are many reasons why he has struggled. His offensive game — which was once a strength when he played for the Boston Bruins — has evaporated. While he has a strong work ethic, his athleticism is declining. And most noticeably, he takes too many penalties.

Chara’s 2o total penalties are the ninth-most in the NHL, according to Natural Stat Trick. He has taken 16 more penalties than he has drawn, the second-highest number in the NHL. Only Carolina Hurricanes’ defenseman Ian Cole has a worse number (18).

When a player frequently takes penalties, it generally means they are too slow. Chara is no different. His opponents are able to skate by the six-foot-nine defenseman with ease, and many times, the only way Chara can stop them is with an illegal maneuver.

There was a perfect example of this in Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. With a minute remaining in the second period, Chara got beat by Rasmus Asplund and took a penalty. Alex Tuch scored on the ensuing power-play with a second remaining in the frame, giving the Sabres a 3-2 lead.

Later in the game, Chara made another catastrophic mistake — one that cost the Islanders the game. Instead of getting in position, Chara directed Scott Mayfield to cover Dylan Cozens. While doing so, Victor Olofsson snuck behind Chara and wound up to score the game-winning one-timer.

While it was not completely Chara’s fault, a younger, faster defenseman may have been able to react quicker and stop the goal.

Oof. Looking again at the GWG, seeing Chara emphatically direct Mayfield puck side as Olofsson makes his way behind Chara for the shot #Isles pic.twitter.com/LBsgoHNWWI

— 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐱 (@IslesFix) February 16, 2022

It can be argued Chara cost the Islanders two points Tuesday night. His penalty led to a goal and his poor defense led to another. This has been a microcosm for the team’s season — Chara has hurt his team more than he has helped.

Potential Replacements

The Islanders signed Chara after trading Nick Leddy to the Detroit Red Wings earlier in the offseason. Leddy is a speedy, puck-moving defenseman. Chara is a slow, stay-at-home defenseman. Attempting to replace Leddy with a completely different player has clearly not worked.

“We don’t have a [Leddy],” Islanders’ head coach Barry Trotz said in November. “Really the [change] is Leddy and Chara. They’re absolutely the total opposites as players. We need the other guys to just collectively try to add some of that element. There’s no one that skates like Leddy on our defense at all. He’s one of those elite skaters.”

Therefore, the Islanders should replace Chara with a two-way, puck-moving defenseman who plays similarly to Leddy.

Robin Salo was sent to the AHL at the conclusion of the All-Star Break after he recorded one goal and three assists in 18 games at the NHL level. Salo showcased a strong offensive game and improved defensively as the season progressed. With the Islanders 17-20-6 and the team’s postseason odds growing bleaker with each loss, the Islanders should see what they have in Salo — and play him whenever possible.

Sebastian Aho is another player who would benefit from more playing time. Just like Salo, he is a two-way defenseman, and he has shown potential when he gets an opportunity. In fact, he recorded an assist Tuesday, feeding Anthony Beauvillier with a strong breakout pass which eventually led to Kyle Palmieri’s second goal of the season.

Thomas Hickey and Grant Hutton are also potential replacements — both have looked good when given NHL minutes in recent memory. And if the Islanders want to replace Chara via trade, perhaps they could be interested in Arizona Coyotes’ 23-year-old defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who is signed to a reasonable $4.6 million per year contract through the 2024-25 season.

.@FriedgeHNIC mentions the #isles as one of the few teams he “wonders” about seriously gauging the Chrychrun market on 32 Thoughts.

Jokingly adds he doesn’t want to say more or Lamoriello will squash it.

— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNYI) December 20, 2021

No matter what happens, the Islanders need to end the Chara-experiment. It has failed miserably and is a big reason a team that has made back-to-back NHL semifinals is now 18 points out of a playoff spot. Whether the Islanders bench him or trade him for a late-round pick, they must pull the plug on this mistake — sooner rather than later.

Drive4Five