The Boston Bruins already received bad injury news on defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, so they could ill afford the same for captain Zdeno Chara.

Chara left the Bruins’ Thursday night preseason game with the New York Rangers just 5 minutes in with an injury and didn’t return. The injury was classified as upper body.

Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters Friday that Chara’s injury isn’t believed to be serious, and the Bruins defenseman is day to day with the injury. The coach labeled that diagnosis as “good news.”

The new-look Bruins will be in big trouble if Chara’s status somehow worsens. The team announced earlier this week that Seidenberg would miss eight weeks with a back injury that required surgery.

Chara obviously is projected to be the Bruins’ No. 1 defenseman. He’s expected to be joined on the Boston blue line by some sort of combination of Zach Trotman, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller and Matt Irwin.

Thumbnail photo via Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports Images