Friedman: Canucks in contact with Bruins on centre Pavel Zacha

“My buddy Rick Dhaliwal in Vancouver reported that the Canucks have contacted the Bruins this week about Zacha. That’s true, and I think it’s been going on for quite some time. All the way going back to the summer, the Canucks and Bruins have been on-off about this.”

Friedman mentioned that with two years remaining on his contract, and many teams inquiring about Zacha, the Bruins aren’t in a rush to move on from him unless the price is right.

The Brno, Czechia product has an eight-team no-trade list, to which Friedman reported that he doesn’t believe the Canucks are on. Zacha is in the third year of a four-year contract with a $4.75 million cap hit.

Zacha was a sixth-overall pick for the New Jersey Devils in 2015, but he did not break out as a top-six centre until he joined the Bruins for their record-setting 2022-23 team. He’s since been a consistent player producing in the 50-point range, although his 14 goals and 33 assists for 47 points in 82 games in 2024-25 were his lowest point totals in Boston. He has two goals and seven assists for nine points in 10 games so far this season.

The Canucks have been in search of a top-six centre after trading JT Miller to the New York Rangers and receiving centre Filip Chytil as the centre replacement in return. With Chytil spending most of his time in the NHL as a third line centre, Vancouver is still in search of a higher-calibre centreman to really solidify their depth down the middle.

There is extra urgency to acquire a centre in the midst of all of the injuries down the middle that the Canucks are dealing with. On top of Chytil being out for an unknown period of time, Teddy Blueger is out week-to-week, leaving Aatu Räty and Max Sasson as their next-best centre options. The Canucks brought in 23-year-old Lukas Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick on Friday. He slotted in as the second line centre in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.