Will Zdeno Chara be re-signed? (AP)

These days, when a Bruins contract is brought up, it is done so in a conversation about how the B’s must clear money and distance themselves from the salary cap. The team is over $3 million over the cap and will need to move a big contract when Marco Sturm returns from his long-term injury status.

Maybe this is why there hasn’t been much of a commotion when it comes to extending the team’s impending free agents. While the contracts of Sturm, Tim Thomas, Michael Ryder and Andrew Ference receive regular attention, a guy like Zdeno Chara prepares to enter what could be his last season in Boston.

Chara signed a five-year, $37.5 million deal as a free agent with the Bruins in 2006 and has been a key member of the team since, contributing as both the team’s top defenseman and its captain. Though there have been points at which Chara’s camp and the Bruins have touched lightly on the possibility of an extension, nothing has progressed past the preliminary stage.

Chara’s agent, Matt Keator, told WEEI.com Sunday night that he and Chara are taking a “wait and see” approach, and that there’s “no rush now at all.”

Chara is the team’s highest-paid player and, at $7.5 million, has a cap hit that’s more than $4 million higher than any other defenseman on the team. Dennis Seidenberg is the team’s second-highest-paid blueliner at $3.25 million per year.

The Bruins would be wise to try to swing a deal with Chara’s camp before he hits free agency, as he would likely cash in on the open market, as he did in ’06 after bolting the Senators. Chara’s value to the team seems to be worth the high price tag, as he is the first Bruin to win the Norris Trophy since Ray Bourque, a feat Chara accomplished in 2008-09. He also led the team in plus-minus last season.

The Bruins likely will do what they can to bring Chara back. With Ryder and Sturm coming off the books at season’s end, the team will have some money to throw at the likes of Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Mark Stuart, but all is quiet for now.