Boston Bruins
Zacha is due for a hefty pay raise after the 2026-27 season.
Pavel Zacha had a career year in 2025-26 with Boston. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)
COMMENTARY
In a perfect world, Pavel Zacha is the type of player that the Bruins would like to stick around for the long haul.
The 29-year-old forward has been at the center of one of Don Sweeney’s better trades in recent years. Boston acquired him in a one-for-one swap with the Devils for veteran forward Erik Haula.
Since then, Zacha has seemingly settled into a groove as a Swiss Army Knife in Boston’s forward corps, earning significant reps at both 5-on-5 play and special teams while averaging 21 goals and 57 points per season across his last four years with the Bruins.
The 2025-26 campaign was the best of Zacha’s career to this point, with the Czech forward scoring a career-high 30 goals and 65 points while skating on one of the best forward trios in the NHL.
A second line of Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, and Viktor Arvidsson was often Marco Sturm’s most dependable grouping up front — outscoring opponents, 42-22, across 583 minutes of 5-on-5 play during the regular season.
Factoring in his contract — which runs through the 2026-27 season at an affordable $4.75 million cap hit — Zacha stands as a trusty asset on a Bruins team that is in desperate need of some consistency amid this ongoing retool and expected influx of younger talent.
But on the other side of the coin, Zacha’s value as a steady middle-six center could force the Bruins into some tough decisions this offseason as they continue to try and rework this roster into a legitimate contending club.
Given Zacha’s familiarity with the Bruins and his value to this current roster, it’s seemed likely for years that all parties would interested in hashing out a new, long-term extension, which the forward will be eligible to sign later on this summer.
Speaking during the team’s break-up day in May, Zacha stressed that there haven’t been any substantial discussions with the Bruins so far.
“There hasn’t been really any talks,” Zacha said. “I’ll leave that on my agent and them this summer, if there’s going to be anything. But so far there’s been nothing. We were on a mission this season to make the playoffs, and then go from there. I think we’re both focused on the same goal. Unfortunately it didn’t work out, but now there’s time this summer, we’ll see what happens.”
As Don Sweeney is quick to note, all it takes is one phone call for contract talks to accelerate.
The Bruins might hold plenty of affinity for Zacha and his multifaceted role on this team. But, Boston could have several reservations about doling out a well-deserved — but pricy — long-term extension for the veteran.
The shifting market dynamics across the NHL and a rising salary cap factor into that equation, especially with Zacha continuing to raise his stock as one of the better pivots set to hit free agency next summer.
If 34-year-old Charlie Coyle can ink a six-year, $36 million contract with the Blue Jackets this spring, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Zacha’s next long-term deal pays him between $7.5-8.5 million per year — and that could rise if he tallies 30 or more goals again in 2026-27.
At face value, giving Zacha that pay raise falls well in line with the new going rate across the league — and would seemingly be justified for a middle-six stalwart who checks off plenty of boxes for this Bruins roster.
Even with that initial sticker shock, the Bruins could justify signing Zacha to said deal if they expect him to be a dependable second-line regular for the next few years — and eventually shift into more of a third-line pivot as he ages and younger centers like Fraser Minten, James Hagens, and potentially Dean Letourneau carve out featured roles.
Granted, that contract really only becomes fully palatable if the Bruins didn’t already have a 30-something center in Elias Lindholm currently taking up $7.75 million in annual cap space through the 2030-31 season.
As painful as it might be, a Bruins team trying to get younger and faster might have to take a long look at their cap situation and wonder if having two 30-plus centers making at least a combined $16-17 million a year for the long haul is the best path moving forward.
While Lindholm’s contract is the real impediment with that thinking, Zacha’s age (turns 30 next April) and quiet playoff showings (two goals in 31 postseason games) might also give Boston some pause as far as extending a player who — while a solid, dependable forward — may not be a true needle-mover on a rapidly changing core of players.
Beyond the fiscal component, Zacha also stands as one of the few appealing trade chips at Sweeney’s disposal this offseason — one that could be flipped for either valuable draft capital or impact talent that addresses other areas on Boston’s reshuffling depth chart.
If the Bruins have serious questions over whether Zacha is a true franchise fixture, his standing as a dependable, two-way center could make him a coveted trade target for several clubs looking for a surefire second or third-line pivot.
With the Winnipeg Jets reportedly open to hearing offers for the eighth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in return for win-now help, a player like Zacha (with sweeteners included) could hold some appeal for a team looking to make the most of an aging core.
It remains to be seen if Zacha is the type of player that would entice Winnipeg, and the Bruins forward’s own no-trade clause could complicate things.
But, if the Bruins want to throw youngsters like Minten and Hagens into featured roles down the middle right away, Zacha could be an asset that the Bruins part ways with for the right return — especially if it gives Boston a shot to add another blue-chip prospect like Daxon Rudolph or Albert Smits to their burgeoning pipeline.
Zacha could also help Boston add immediate help elsewhere on the roster, be it as part of a package deal for a legitimate top-line center or top-four defenseman — or even in a one-for-one swap for a fleet-footed scoring wing like Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett.
There’s a lot of risk in the Bruins both dealing away a 30-goal center in Zacha and putting more pressure on Minten and Hagens right out of the gate in 2026-27.
In an ideal scenario, Zacha remains in Boston as a positive contributor and complementary piece for a new crop of high-impact youngsters.
But, that’s not the scenario the Bruins are in at this moment.
If the Bruins are fixated on making a few bolder moves to shake up their roster — or have some qualms about the pending payout that Zacha has earned for himself — a simple re-signing this summer or next year might not be as much of a sure bet as initially envisioned.
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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