The Bruins are still mulling the possibility of trading forward Pavel Zacha, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. He lists the Canucks and Mammoth as teams that’ve been softly linked to his availability.
Boston GM Don Sweeney considered moving Zacha during their sell-off at last season’s trade deadline but ended up holding onto him, choosing to flip Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, and Brad Marchand for assets instead. If they do decide to go that route, the type of return they’re looking for will speak volumes about the team’s expectations for 2025-26. They’re already light on offensive firepower, with Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak remaining as their lone 30-goal scorers from last season and veteran Viktor Arvidsson, coming off a down season with the Oilers, amounting to their only offseason addition that could impact their top six forward group.
The teams mentioned, Vancouver and Utah, likely wouldn’t be looking to pick up Zacha and flip roster players back – particularly the former as they continue to search for additional middle-six center depth. If those discussions have gained any legitimacy in the Bruins’ front office, it’s fair to wonder if they’ve resigned themselves to another season of retooling and are prepared to again finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Division.
They’re not unlimited in what they can do with Zacha, although they have slightly more flexibility after his 10-team no-trade list decreased to an eight-team one on July 1. The 28-year-old, who’s flipped between center and wing throughout his NHL career, has two years left on his contract at a $4.75MM cap hit. However, he’s only owed $3.75MM in actual cash for both 2025-26 and 2026-27 after the Bruins paid out his final signing bonus, worth $1MM, at the beginning of the month.
Zacha’s offensive production took a step back in 2024-25, as did many of his teammates’ aside from the aforementioned Geekie and Pastrnak. After back-to-back seasons of 20 goals and 50 points, he was limited to 14 goals and 47 points while playing in all 82 games. There were some things to like – he averaged a career-high 19:04 per game, won 53.2% of his draws, and continued to have positive possession impacts. Still, he was likely looking for more production, considering he spent the vast majority of the campaign stapled at center between Boston’s two leading goal-scorers.
Nonetheless, the 2015 No. 6 overall pick has averaged 54 points per 82 games over his three years in Boston without an overwhelming amount of year-to-year variation. His trade value likely won’t get any higher than it is now, with two full years left under contract at a reasonable price tag for whoever picks him up.
Both Vancouver and Utah will be undoubtedly better. Whoever picks him up might just surpass the other.
Sweeney has done a nice job of turning the Bruins forward group into an expansion team.
I mean at this point if you’re moving Zacha – shouldn’t you be looking to move Pasta? They obviously can’t build a good team overnight and I doubt he has much desire to spend the next 3+ years on a rebuild. If you’re going that route seems like they should go full nuclear and stock picks and young assets. Although they’ve made such a mess of this roster the last couple years it’s tough to see any good options. Marchy probably counting his blessings in hindsight.
BOS might have dreams of a quick re-tool (a la the Rangers) that lets them skip a year then get right back into contention. Not to mention do you trust Sweeney to get max value for Pasta or do you leave that task to the next GM?
Pasta is staying for at least one more year….just curious, where do you think he wants to go?
If they have dreams of a quick retool, then why would they deal Zacha?
To clear cap space for shorter-term deals & younger talent. Although his $4.75mil cap hit isn’t exactly egregious if they keep him around to center Pasta.
It’s crazy that BOS looks so bad on paper and still only has $2mil in cap space left. Yikes!
Boston and Pittsburgh in the 2026 “Who can tank the quickest” competition. I’m sure season ticket holders in both towns are thrilled.
For a shot at McKenna! If they get him then ALL is forgiven!!!!!
Carter Hart to the Oilers.
I imagine that a lot of teams will be interested in him.