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The following is a nightmare come to life for the Boston Bruins and their fans, as TSN's Aaron Ward and Joe McDonald detail:

Defenseman Zdeno Chara, perhaps the one player the Bruins could not afford to lose for an extended period this season, is not only out for four to six weeks but could be facing surgery after a seemingly harmless collision with New York Islanders center John Tavares on Thursday night.

It's believed this hit with less than nine minutes remaining in the first period, one that planted Tavares like tomato seeds in your grandmother's garden, did the damage.

Chara remained on the ice for a shift following a television timeout but left for good about 10 seconds into that shift.

A blue line that was bursting with talent during the preseason is now void of a No. 1 defenseman and mirrors the depth of a jacuzzi. With Kevan Miller out with a dislocated shoulder, these are very likely the six defensemen the Bruins will ice Saturday against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

Bruins' likely defense corps with Zdeno Chara out Player Age Career games Fenwick close Time on ice Dennis Seidenberg 33 624 45.8 20:45 Adam McQuaid 28 229 56.0 19:31 Dougie Hamilton 21 115 55.3 21:39 Torey Krug 23 91 62.8 20:06 Matt Bartkowski 26 87 44.7 18:31 Zach Trotman 24 0 N/A N/A Zdeno Chara 37 1,141 59.7 21:41 NHL.com, war-on-ice.com

That's easily a defense corps that is bottom-10, perhaps bottom-five caliber in the NHL.

There are some nice possession numbers above, but the problem is they are all contingent on Chara acting as the minutes-munching rock that eats top competition for lunch. Dougie Hamilton, who has acted as Chara's regular defense partner this season, has enjoyed a nice season in that regard largely because he is riding shotgun next to one of the all-time greats.

Torey Krug has done very well this season facing tougher matchups than he has in the past, but now he will be asked to do more. Adam McQuaid has been fine as well and probably won't see his role change all that much. The same can be said for Matt Bartkowski, who has been part of the bottom pairing.

The person who will likely be asked to step up is Dennis Seidenberg, who hasn't been anywhere near his former self since coming back from offseason knee surgery. He was a strong even-strength player in 2011-12 and 2013, but similar to the case with Hamilton, it certainly helps to play regularly alongside Chara.

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The one player the Bruins are missing greatly right now is defenseman Johnny Boychuck, traded to the Islanders before the season for draft picks. General manager Peter Chiarelli did not technically have to trade Boychuk to become cap-compliant, as the Bruins were under the salary cap by about $500,000 with his $3.3 million cap hit.

But the deal was made to give the team more flexibility, perhaps in case of an injury.

It's doubtful Chiarelli ever envisioned that injury happening to his most important player, a player with a $6.9 million cap hit that will come off the books when he is placed on long-term injured reserve.

So just how bad is this for the Bruins?

Well, there's bad news and there's really bad news.

The bad news is if Chara misses the full six weeks, the Bruins will trot out a makeshift defense corps for about 18 games; if it's four weeks, it's right around 14 games.

Here are those 18 games.

Boston Bruins' next 18 games Date Opponent Opponent record 10/25 at Toronto 3-3-1 10/28 vs. Minnesota 3-2-0 10/30 at Buffalo 1-7-0 11/1 vs. Ottawa 4-1-0 11/4 vs. Florida 2-2-2 11/6 vs. Edmonton 2-4-1 11/10 vs. New Jersey 3-2-1 11/12 at Toronto 3-3-1 11/13 at Montreal 6-1-0 11/15 vs. Carolina 0-4-2 11/18 vs. St. Louis 2-3-1 11/21 at Columbus 3-2-0 11/22 vs. Montreal 6-1-0 11/24 vs. Pittsburgh 3-2-1 11/28 vs. Winnipeg 2-4-0 12/1 at Anaheim 6-1-0 12/2 at Los Angeles 5-1-1 12/4 at San Jose 4-3-1 Total Record: 58-46-12 NHL.com

All in all, that's not the end of the world. The three-game California road trip at the end of that timetable is brutal, but perhaps Chara returns by then. Two games against Montreal and one each with Minnesota and Pittsburgh are particularly daunting, but there are a lot of games against middling and bottom-feeding teams during that 18-game stretch that can make Chara's absence survivable.

With or without Chara, the Bruins are capable of grabbing half the available points in those 18 contests if everyone raises his game slightly. If the Bruins are 13-14-0 through 27 games when Chara returns, that leaves plenty of time to turn things around and, at worst, contend for a playoff spot in the East.

But if it's the really bad news, that Chara's knee isn't healing properly and he requires surgery, pack up the season because the Bruins probably aren't a postseason club.

It can't be understated how valuable Chara is to the Bruins, even with him playing fewer minutes to open this season than he has in the past. It's not that he's able to drive possession at elite levels, it's that he's able to do it against virtually anyone in the NHL. He tilts the ice for about 20 minutes per night while the other team has its biggest offensive weapons out against him, and there's no one coming to match that effort.

All statistics via NHL.com, all contract information via CapGeek.com.



Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.