Chimera has carved out a successful NHL career largely thanks to his blazing speed.

With a reputation as a tenacious forechecker, Chimera is a force when pursuing the puck, is counted on to kill penalties and is capable of providing an offensive boost in a bottom-six role.

Selected by his hometown Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round (No. 121) in the 1997 NHL Draft, Chimera joined his fifth NHL team when he was traded by the New York Islanders to the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 26. He had signed with the Islanders as a free agent on July 1, 2016.

Before reaching the NHL, Chimera was a two-time 30-goal scorer in the Western Hockey League, 34 with Medicine Hat in 1997-98 and then combining for 32 the following season for Medicine Hat and Brandon after he was traded.

Chimera turned pro for the 1999-2000 season, scoring 15 goals and finishing with 28 points in 78 games for Hamilton in the American Hockey League. The next season he would make his NHL debut, on Dec. 9, 2000, against the Los Angeles Kings, but that proved to be his only game with the Oilers that season. He appeared in 78 games with Hamilton, scoring 29 goals and 54 points.

Chimera also spent most of the 2001-02 season in the minors, appearing in just three games with the Oilers, but he scored his first NHL goal on Dec. 18, 2001 against the Islanders. With Hamilton, Chimera earned an AHL All-Star Game berth and was named First Team All-AHL after finishing with 26 goals, 77 points and 158 penalty minutes.

After three seasons in the AHL, Chimera cracked the lineup with the Oilers for the 2002-03 season, appearing in 66 games and scoring 14 goals and 23 points.

Edmonton traded Chimera to the Phoenix Coyotes on June 26, 2004, but he never appeared in a game with the Coyotes due to the lockout and was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 8, 2005.

In 4 1/2 seasons with the Blue Jackets, Chimera started to establish his role as a solid, two-way, energy forward, scoring 62 goals, putting up 136 points and compiling 372 penalty minutes in 331 games until the Blue Jackets traded him to the Washington Capitals on Dec. 28, 2009.

Chimera proved a valuable presence in the Washington lineup, twice reaching the 20-goal mark (2011-12 and 2015-16) and the 40-point mark on two occasions (2013-14 and 2015-16). He also scored his 300th career point with an assist against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 5, 2014.

He got off to a slow start with the Islanders in 2016-17 but came on strong to finish with his second straight 20-goal season.