The pending status of both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci’s return to Boston clearly sits at the top of Don Sweeney’s to-do list — but the Bruins still have a few other pressing matters to attend to this summer.
Namely, they still need to tie a bow around their top offseason pickup (so far) - restricted free agent Pavel Zacha.
While the B’s traded for Zacha’s rights last Wednesday, the 25-year-old center still needs to sign a contract — and he took an expected measure in order to set a floor for his next payday.
On Sunday, Zacha was one of 24 NHLers across the league who elected for salary arbitration before the league’s 5 p.m. deadline. It’s a bit of financial posturing that was far from a surprise, given that Zacha’s other option was to accept a one-year, $3 million qualifying offer.
Zacha, whose base salary last season in the final year of his three-year, $6.75 million contract with the Devils sat at $3 million, is likely looking for a bit more security with his new contract with Boston instead of a one-year bridge deal.
And even though the Czech forward’s production doesn’t necessarily leap off the page (36 points in 70 games in 2021-22), it does represent a new career-high total for Zacha — with his versatility and two-way talent giving him more ammunition when it comes to making a case for a raise from that $3 million threshold.
Of course, considering that the Bruins dealt a useful asset in Erik Haula for him, it’s pretty evident that Boston wants to retain Zacha for the foreseeable future — even with the potential cap gymnastics that come with bridging the fiscal gap with an RFA.
“Obviously, that’s what you hope for when you make a trade of this nature and a player that was drafted and has the skillset that he has,” Sweeney said of Zacha’s top-six potential. “He’s had opportunity in situations, playing with better players for periods of time — albeit in a younger environment.
“So, he’ll have a chance to hopefully play in a top-nine scenario with us and with March being out, a significant opportunity early on with power play and situational play that he can benefit from. But we do believe there’s more potential there, and that’s up to Pavel to take advantage of the opportunities he’s presented with.”
In terms of next steps, arbitration hearings will be held across the NHL from July 27 and August 11. Both parties will submit their suggested salaries to an arbitrator — and once a salary has been decided, the Bruins can elect to accept the terms set down by the arbitrator and then choose either a one or a two-year deal for the player.
The Bruins also have the right to walk away from a player, with an NHL club given 48 hours to choose to accept a deal based on the arbitrator’s decision. Boston did this back in 2006 when it cut ties with defenseman David Tanabe after he was set to earn a deal with an AAV of $1.25 million.
It is important to note that teams can continue to talk contracts with players who have filed for arbitration — with deals usually struck before these fiscal negotiations are turned over to a third party.
It’s a rather safe bet that Zacha should command an AAV above $3 million with his new deal, especially if it goes to the aforementioned arbitrator. A payout around $3.5 million per year — a solid bump in pay but also fair when weighed against the rest of the market — would seem to be agreeable for all parties.
Of course, the Bruins are already cap-crunched at this stage of the summer, with Sweeney only operating with around $4.8 million in fiscal wiggle room, per CapFriendly.
Boston should have the means to sign Zacha, especially if that common ground around a $3.5 million payout can be reached. But with Bergeron and Krejci’s status still up in the air, Boston’s financial headaches aren’t set to subside any time soon, especially if both top-six pivots intend on signing on the dotted line — sooner or later.