Pavel Zacha has landed in the middle of the trade chatter, and for the Bruins, that makes the next few months interesting.
Daily Faceoff managing editor Matt Larkin recently updated his NHL Trade Board, and while the usual headliners sat near the top - Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin, defenseman Simon Edvinsson and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov - Zacha showed up further down the list as a name to watch. The Boston center is a pending unrestricted free agent, and going into Saturday he had five goals and nine assists for 14 points with a $4.75 million cap hit.
That was the springboard for a discussion on Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, where Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Larkin to dig into Boston’s center situation and whether Zacha is still part of the Bruins’ future.
Carter Hutton put the question directly on the table.
“When I look at your trade board, there’s one name that stands out: Pavel Zacha.
No one really saw the Bruins’ success in the Atlantic Division, and now you’re in a situation where they have cap space, they have a first-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Where do you go from here?
Is he a piece you hold on to? Or are you better to get rid of him and go with the crop you have?”
Larkin’s answer pointed toward a split between what Zacha brings now and what Boston may want down the road. He noted the chemistry Zacha has with David Pastrnak on the top line and acknowledged the Bruins are competitive, but he also said, “I think Zacha has played his way out of Boston.”
Larkin also framed the market around Zacha as one that could get expensive. In his view, the center market is Zacha and Morgan Frost, though he added that Frost doesn’t want to leave the Calgary Flames.
Looking ahead to the 2027 UFA board, Larkin said Zacha is “going to get overpaid.” He pointed to the forward’s size and the fact that he is still in his prime, but he also cautioned that some of the production numbers around him are not built to last. He cited last season’s shooting percentage as the reason Zacha reached a 30-goal pace, adding, “It’s not what he’s going to be every year.”
From Boston’s side, Larkin said the organization already has other center options in the pipeline. He mentioned Fraser Minten, saying the Bruins have already committed to him and that he looks great. He also brought up James Hagens, saying he eventually is going to move to center permanently and has shown “so much promise before he go hurt.”
Long term, Larkin said Boston can project those players as future top-two centers, with one more possibility hanging in the background.
“... or maybe it’s Dylan Larkin …”
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