He flat-out wasn’t an MVP level player. I agree that he was a top-tier defenseman at his peak — with the asterisk that it was an era without an A-list legend in their prime, so the top spot was kind of wide open to be taken.
Chara was unique in the way he influenced the game from a defensive perspective, simply swallowing up a whole side of the ice with that wingspan and making it pointless to engage in a crease battle or board battle. He was even among the best fighters in the league, on a team that liked to fight. And people seem to forget, he had the biggest slapshot in the league and sometimes played an effective net front role on the power play. Around Chara’s peak circa 2009 or so, I was watched almost every game the Bruins played and can testify that the more you watched him, the more you realized the extent to which he tilted the game. I have seen a similar impact from Jaccob Slavin defensively, but Slavin doesn’t have that slapshot, or the menacing physical presence which visibly changes the way opponents behave on the ice, or the tone-setting aura that defines the personality of a team. Chara was just a different animal.
BUT, he was not anywhere near the conversation with peak Crosby, or peak Ovechkin, or peak Malkin. Those three were clowning the league and Chara was not at that level of impact. It wasn’t just that they were flashy, it’s that they were better players.