[GranteedEV]

Brodie is signed for 5 years. He will be 30 when his next contract is up. If he's Norris-calibre by then the Flames will find a way to retain him. It might mean losing guys like Poirier or Klimchuk if they're still in the organization.

One contract is not a cap. Chara's contract didn't stop the Bruins from keeping Boychuk or Hamilton - heck he was and still is a #1D for them even if he's no longer in the Norris class.

The Bruins' troubles stem from other factors, like Iginla collecting his bonuses in 2013-14, Krejci making around 2M more than he should, Lucic becoming a supposed floater, Hamilton not wanting to sign/negotiate there for 5.5M yet signing here for 5.75M, them choosing Seidenberg over Boychuk, getting brutal value in the Seguin trade, Rask being paid 7M a year, and cumulatively overpaying all their depth players. There's a lot to be learned from their mistakes, and I'm sure Chara being paid around 1-2M smidge less would help, but it does not define their situation. If I were them I'd be shopping Rask before I'm shopping Chara as it's been proven over and over that guys paid as "franchise goaltenders" don't win anything in the cap era.. Luongo, Price, Lundqvist, Rinne, Kipprusoff, Rask.. You just can't overpay for goaltending. Aging star defenders like Lidstrom and Chara have proven more.

And yeah, in a few years they'll have to kick off a proper rebuild and they'll wish they had Seguin/Hamilton. But at the end of the day they'll live with it because this Bergeron/Chara group got them through some great years including a Cup, a President's Trophy, and another SCF. No cap era team is going to stay consistently elite six-eight years after a cup.. Detroit didn't, Pittsburgh didn't, Anaheim didn't, and even Chicago is in tough starting next year.