The New Jersey Devils have spent the offseason reshaping the roster, and with 54 days left before the opener, there’s still room for one more swing. One name worth keeping on the radar is Pavel Zacha, the former Devils first-rounder who could fit back into the picture in a big way.
New Jersey has already done plenty under general manager Sunny Mehta. The club re-signed key players, changed its goaltending setup, and added depth across the roster.
It also has $3.85 million in cap space, though that number could shift quickly with trade talk still hanging around Dawson Mercer and Dougie Hamilton. Even with those moving parts, the Devils can still make a meaningful addition.
Zacha would be a full-circle move. Drafted sixth overall by the Devils in 2015, he spent parts of seven seasons in New Jersey and produced 69 goals and 179 points while bouncing between center and wing in the top six and middle six. The Devils sent him to the Boston Bruins in July of 2022 for Erik Haula, a move that made sense at the time as New Jersey built around Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier and weighed Zacha’s uneven play along with his RFA situation.
Since then, the trade has looked a lot less tidy. Haula’s offense declined, while Zacha’s game took off in Boston. He posted a career-high 65 points last season, has topped 20 goals three times with the Bruins, and has become a reliable two-way piece with important special teams value.
His situation in Boston is worth watching. Zacha is entering the final year of his contract, which carries a $4.75 million cap hit. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported that the Bruins have been taking calls on the 29-year-old, though their goal remains to get him extended (from ‘NHL rumblings: Pavelski on Leafs talks, how Raddysh got done, latest on Thomas, Zacha, Ovechkin, more,’ The Athletic, 6/19/26).
Even if he stays put for opening night, the Devils would be smart to stay in the conversation. Zacha is expected to come at a steep price, but New Jersey has the kind of assets that could make a serious offer. The Devils still hold two future conditional first-round picks after sending Simon Nemec and Maxim Tsyplakov to the Calgary Flames, and they also have prospects who could interest Boston.
Anton Silayev and Mikhail Yegorov are among the names New Jersey could dangle. Seamus Casey is another possible chip, especially since the Bruins are said to be looking for young right-handed defensemen.
Drafted 46th overall in 2022, Casey has yet to lock down a full-time NHL role and appeared in just two games for the Devils last season. His skating and offensive upside could make him appealing to Boston.
There’s also no rush if a deal doesn’t happen now. The Devils could circle back at the trade deadline or wait until Zacha reaches free agency in July 2027.
On the ice, the fit is easy to see. New Jersey’s projected 2026-27 lineup is already stronger than the one that finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference last season, especially after the Anthony Mantha addition.
The top end looks clearer now, with some combination of Hischier, Hughes, Timo Meier, and Jesper Bratt leading the way. The real question is how the bottom six settles in.
Evan Rodrigues is expected to open as the third-line center, but Zacha would change that picture. With him in the mix, Rodrigues could slide to a bottom-six wing, which may be where he does his best work. A third line of Arseny Gritsyuk, Zacha, and Connor Brown would give the Devils a legitimate weapon at even strength.
That group already has a strong statistical case behind it. Last season, Gritsyuk, Zacha, and Brown combined for 35 goals and 89 points at 5-on-5. Zacha’s 20.21 shooting percentage and the 60.31 combined shots for percentage from Gritsyuk and Brown only strengthen the argument that this line could drive play.
The Devils already look built to contend, but a reunion with Zacha would deepen the middle of the lineup and give the club another proven scorer down the lineup. If Mehta wants to turn a good roster into something even more dangerous, this is the kind of move that belongs on the board.
In Other News...
Bruins Face Growing Pressure On Pavel Zacha And Two Young Forwards
With several Bruins entering the final year of their contracts, the front office is starting to sort out which pieces it wants to keep in place and for how long. General manager Don Sweeney is weighing extension talks for center Pavel Zacha along with younger forwards Marat Khusnutdinov and Fraser Minten, a group that sits at an interesting crossroads for Boston because each player could shape the clubs middle-six depth in different ways.
The timing adds another layer of urgency, even beyond the usual business of roster planning. A recent extension elsewhere around the league has only reinforced how quickly young players can become more expensive to lock up, and Boston is expected to make its decisions before the next round of labor changes arrives. For the Bruins, the question is not just who stays, but how soon they need to act before the market and the rules shift under them. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Quiet Offseason May Not Last Much Longer For Sweeney
The Bruins have spent most of the offseason in a holding pattern, but the silence around Boston may not last much longer. Around the league, clubs are getting aggressive with their younger talent, with the Penguins among the teams locking in players to long-term deals, and that kind of market activity tends to create its own pressure for everyone else. Boston has not made any major splash yet, but there is still business on the table, and the front office can see the rest of the NHL moving ahead.
Don Sweeney is staring at a narrow window to sort through it, with the Bruins still weighing their next move on the contract front and time starting to matter. The organization has work to do if it wants to avoid letting the summer drift any further, even as smaller transactions continue to fill out the system, including Providence signing Cross Hanas to an AHL deal. For a team trying to stay competitive without overreacting, the next stretch could decide whether this quiet offseason stays that way. [Read more 🡒]