Pavel Zacha started the year hearing his name in trade whispers as the most likely veteran core player to be shipped away if things really didn’t go well for the Black and Gold again this season.
Instead, the Bruins have played better-than-expected hockey that has them sitting in a wild-card playoff spot in the middle of January, and Zacha has consistently been one of Boston’s most effective players during that stretch while holding down the No. 2 center spot pretty much all season. Zacha scored the game-winner in Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden on a glove-side snipe as he was moving from the top of the faceoff circle to the slot for the scoring chance.
Pavel Zacha puts the @NHLBruins on the board! 🚨
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) January 14, 2026
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It was Zacha’s 14th goal of the season and his fourth goal, and sixth point, in the last five games as he is currently on pace for 24 goals and 56 points this season while firmly establishing himself on a second line that’s been tremendously effective for Boston. Zacha had been bounced between center and wing with the previous coaching staffs, as he’s not the most dynamic puck transporter through the neutral zone, and he doesn’t have the flashy hands that some other top-6 guys show off on the regular.
But Marco Sturm said there is zero doubt in his mind that he’s the right guy for the center job with the Bruins, and that he won’t be moving out of the middle anytime soon.
“I think the message was very early and very clear with Pavel Zacha having watched him play for years, and now even being around him there is no question in my mind that he’s a center man,” said Sturm. “There is no doubt in my mind that he gives us his best hockey game, his best performance, as a center. I think he shows that right now. Having said that, I think he needs to play with some guys that play with some motor. Casey [Mittelstadt], he’s quick and has good hands. Those three guys are a nice combo for me, but he calms things down with his experience.
“His first goal today [versus Detroit]? He has a rocket. When I first signed on as coach, my first day here he was out there shooting with our skills coach [John McLean] all the time way before everybody else was out there. He worked on his skill and shot all summer long because he lives here in the summer. The frustrating thing for him is that he missed the net a lot, but he gets those chances. It’s something we will keep working on with him. He goes to the tough areas. He's doing all the right things and he gets rewarded, I think, for the work he put in all summer long and the work he puts in now as well.”
On the flip side of the early trade whispers, it feels like there will start being a lot more consideration to signing Zacha to a contract extension following this season. The 28-year-old is on pace to top 20 goals and 50 points for the third time in his four years in Boston and the hustle and hard work in his 200-foot game are always valuable assets.
The question becomes what to do with Zacha when Elias Lindholm is signed to a long-term deal that really isn’t tradeable, Fraser Minten continues to develop and looks like a possible top-6 center in the making and 19-year-old Boston College center James Hagens is poised to sign an NHL contract after his sophomore season at the Heights.
It probably won’t take too long before Hagens is the kind of dazzling, high skill center that the Bruins don’t have right now in their top two forward lines.
Zacha is signed to one more year at $4.75 million for next season, but is looking at a healthy raise if he does indeed stick around in Boston. Though the fact that the Czech center lives in Boston year-round and is in a preferred spot with Czech countryman David Pastrnak may translate into some kind of hometown discount for the Black and Gold when it does come time for his new deal.
In order for all that to happen, though, Zacha will need to keep playing well and producing while looking for his offense in addition to his natural playmaking instincts. The good news is that he’s trending toward career highs in most offensive categories and has been a very consistent performer during his time in Boston.
“It is whatever the team needs me for, but I feel like with my two-way game, it’s a little better at center,” said Zacha. “With the line I’m playing on right now, things have been clicking. I’m happy to play center and take faceoffs and it helps me get in the game.
“Even if I’m not having a good start, faceoffs and the defensive game helps mentally get me into the game faster than playing on the wing.”
One could make the argument that Zacha has been at the heart of Boston’s current four-game winning streak while going on his offensive binge at the same time, and clearly his focus on defense and two-way hockey has translated across the roster.
It’s been at the heart of the Black and Gold’s recent winning stretch that has them back in a playoff spot.
“I just think playing a little simpler and focusing on five minutes at a time, and being a really good team on reloads and not giving guys much time in the neutral zone,” said Zacha. “And being a great defensive team. That’s something we really prided ourselves on at the beginning of the season was being good defensively, and kind of playing these close games and being able to win them.”
Zacha is stepping up to the forefront at a time of year when the Bruins absolutely, positively needed to start winning hockey games, and that shouldn’t be forgotten when it comes time to make sure that hard-working center sticks around for the long haul.