When the Bruins acquired Pavel Zacha from the Devils for Erik Haula over the summer, they had a couple things in mind for the 2015 first-round pick.
In the present, they viewed him as something of a Swiss Army knife, a player who could fit on any of their top three lines, at any of the three forward positions.
Longer-term, they wanted to see if Zacha, who had seemingly plateaued in New Jersey, still had enough upside to potentially help solve Boston’s future center concerns post-Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
So far, the 25-year-old Zacha has definitely been the former, and he’s also shown some promise when it comes to the latter.
Zacha has spent time on each of the Bruins’ top three lines this season, and he has lined up at left wing, center and right wing. More importantly, he has produced in any spot he’s been in and has shown an ability to complement anyone he plays with.
Early on, Zacha spent some time with Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk, filling in for an injured Brad Marchand. That trio had an expected goals-for percentage of 83.1% and a Corsi-for percentage of 72.7% during their 33 five-on-five minutes together.
Zacha’s most common line this season has been the Czech Line with fellow countrymen David Krejci and David Pastrnak. Oddly enough, that has been arguably the least successful line Zacha has been on. They’ve broken even in their 107 minutes together, scoring four goals and allowing four. Their expected goals (49.7%) and Corsi (52.3%) reflect that.
Zacha also played some third-line right wing next to Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic. They had 63.6% of expected goals in 45 minutes together and a 1-0 advantage in actual goals.
Recently, Zacha has gotten another opportunity to show what he can do at center with Krejci missing the last two games. Just as he did earlier this season when Krejci missed a few games, Zacha has filled in as the No. 2 center -- first between Taylor Hall and Pastrnak, and then between Hall and DeBrusk.
The latter combination, in particular, has produced. On Sunday night, they combined for what proved to be the game-winning goal, with Zacha floating a beautiful pass to DeBrusk for the finish. All three factored into another DeBrusk goal in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Islanders, with Zacha starting the breakout, Hall leading the counter attack, and DeBrusk throwing a pass to the front that deflected off a New York stick and in.
Zacha and DeBrusk also set up a Derek Forbort shorthanded goal. DeBrusk blocked a shot and took off the other way before dropping a pass for Zacha, who then pulled up and fed a charging Forbort in the slot with another nice pass.
While Zacha has done a lot well for the Bruins, his playmaking is arguably what’s stood out the most. He now has 16 assists this season, which is tied for second on the team with Hampus Lindholm, trailing only Pastrnak’s 20. He leads the team in five-on-five assists with 13, three more than second-place Hall. His 14 total five-on-five points are third on the B’s behind only Pastrnak (18) and Hall (17).
That’s the kind of production that gets you thinking that Zacha might be part of the solution when it comes to the Bruins’ looming center shortage. Asking him to be a true No. 1 center might be a stretch, but he’s already producing in the second-line center spot when he’s had the chance, and he’s shown chemistry with the wings who will be there going forward. He's certainly closer to a solution for one of those holes than anything else the Bruins have had recently.
“He’s always had a ton of skill. He’s always played with pace,” Hall said of Zacha on The Skate Podcast last month (the two also played together in New Jersey for three-plus years). “I think for him, as any young player can attest to, you need some confidence, you need some good teaching, you need some good guidance, and an opportunity.
“I think all of those things, he’s received here. I don’t know if he received all of those things throughout his time in Jersey. … I think he was a guy, when I saw we traded for him, there was a lot of potential there and I was interested to see how he’d do in this group with this leadership and the people that are around the building. He’s been like a sponge, and you can see he’s gotten better and better.”
The one area where Zacha will definitely need to improve is faceoffs, where he’s won just 36.2% of his draws this season after a rough 2-for-10 performance on Tuesday. Zacha also struggled on faceoffs earlier in his career, but he improved to the point of topping 50% each of the last two seasons, so the potential for him to be better is obviously there.
“I just think it’s practice,” Zacha said of his faceoffs. “When you don’t play [center] for -- I didn’t really play it last year either -- you jump in for one game, then don’t play it for 10, 15, and then jumping back, it’s kind of the timing of seeing the puck, blocking the stick. Just getting more practice. … I have to practice that even now if I play wing in case I have to take a faceoff here and there.”
You could also point to Zacha having just three goals as a potential concern, but it’s worth noting that his 6.3% shooting percentage this season is well below his career average of 10.4% and is likely to improve. And again, the overall offensive production is still there thanks to his playmaking.
Ultimately, Zacha’s future in Boston has yet to be decided. He is playing this season on a one-year, $3.5 million deal. But he is making it an interesting conversation, and he is certainly proving to be a valuable asset for the league-leading Bruins in the present.