We’re still in the first month of the NHL season, but trade chatter has already begun. And one of the hottest rumors around the league right now involves the Bruins and forward Pavel Zacha.
The Skate Podcast: Zacha trade rumors, and Bruins beat Avs
Let’s catch you up to speed: Zacha’s name has come up in trade rumors going all the way back to last season when Boston made the decision to sell and ultimately shipped out veterans like Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic. Zacha stayed put then, but his name surfaced again over the summer, with other teams wondering if the Bruins’ roster turnover would continue through the offseason.
Again, Zacha remained in Boston. That has not quieted the trade rumors, though, especially as it relates to one team in particular: the Vancouver Canucks. Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK in Vancouver was first to report last week that the Canucks are “working the phones very, very hard trying to get a centerman” and that Zacha could be a primary target.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has since added to that report.
“That's true,” Friedman said of Dhaliwal’s report on ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ Saturday, “and I think it's been going on for quite some time. I think it's all the way going back to the summer. The Canucks and Bruins have been on-off about this. Zacha is not in the last year of his deal. He has another year. Teams are looking for centers. Boston doesn't have to do anything here it doesn't want to do, but this has kind of been a dance, the Canucks and some other teams seeing if they can pry Zacha out of there. One thing about Vancouver, though, in this case, I do not believe they are on Zacha’s no-trade list.”
Friedman added a little more Monday morning on his ’32 Thoughts’ podcast:
“I don't think Boston feels that they're in any rush,” Friedman said. “They're still competing. Boston is not a team that's throwing in the towel by any stretch of the imagination. They had a big win against Colorado on Saturday. … Boston's got a guy here that Vancouver and others have called about, and the Bruins are like, ‘No, we don't have to do this, and we're not going to do this unless we get what we want.’ So, obviously at this point, nothing has happened.”
That last part is probably what’s most important at the moment. The Canucks can be interested in Zacha all they want, but the Bruins have no real reason to move him right now unless Vancouver makes them an offer they can’t refuse.
As Friedman noted, Zacha is signed for another year after this. He also presents good middle-six value at a $4.75 million cap hit. He is 28 years old and can play center or wing. His point totals the last three years are 57, 59 and 47, respectively. He is off to a good start this season with nine points (2g, 7a) in 10 games, second on the team behind only David Pastrnak. He plays in all situations as both a key penalty-killer and a member of Boston’s first power-play unit. And he has become a good faceoff man, winning 54.3% of his draws over the last three years.
All of that is why the Canucks, who could desperately use another center for their top six, want him. It’s also why the Bruins should value him. If this season goes sideways for the Bruins, there will be plenty of time to trade Zacha. Barring injury, he would be a coveted commodity through the March trade deadline, even if his offensive production slows from its current near-point-per-game pace.
But would general manager Don Sweeney pull the trigger if the Canucks up their offer and give the Bruins “what we want,” as Friedman put it? Sure. Zacha can be a good piece of the Bruins’ core moving forward, but he’s not on the unmovable franchise pillar level.
So, the question is: what do the Bruins want? The Canucks are right up against the salary cap, so there would have to be an NHL roster player involved to make the money work (unless a third team gets involved).
The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont floated defenseman Marcus Pettersson as a player the Bruins could be interested in. Given Boston’s defensive struggles this season and Hampus Lindholm’s ongoing injury issues, that could make sense. Pettersson is a legitimate top-four, left-shot defenseman with size (6-foot-5) and strong underlying defensive metrics. But he also just signed a six-year extension in February and has a full no-movement clause, so it would be pretty surprising if the Canucks were willing to move him.
Up front, winger Conor Garland is a Scituate native who has been linked to the Bruins in the past, but he too just signed a long-term extension in July. Filip Chytil (one year left after this at $4.44M AAV) makes sense financially, but his injury history is concerning, and he would just be a downgrade for the Bruins without other pieces involved.
The Bruins could have interest in futures. They’d probably love one of the Canucks’ top prospects (namely center Braeden Cootes, winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki or defenseman Tom Willander) or a future first-round pick, but Vancouver may be unwilling to pay such a steep price.
Which brings this all back to square one: The Bruins don’t need to trade Zacha right now, and if they’re not getting the return that they want, hey shouldn’t. They can see how this season plays out and revisit Zacha’s market closer to the March trade deadline if needed.