Breaking Down The Latest Pavel Zacha News

The Boston Bruins have not had the most ideal start to their season. The team is 2-2-0, having dropped two straight regulation losses by a combined score of 8-2.

Monday night against the Ottawa Senators saw Boston fall behind 4-0 before the halfway mark of the game, effectively killing the game off early.

"The head wasn’t there today," Bruins Head Coach Marco Sturm said. "I tried, but I knew we were not going anywhere today.”

Nikita Zadorov also sounded off on the effort.

“There is no message [after the game]," Zadorov said. "Everybody knows. I mean, we dropped the ball at home. Didn’t come ready to play today.

“You can see it from the first minute of the game," Zadorov continued. "I don’t know why. Obviously, we have one divisional game in the first 17 games. I think it’s important in the hardest division in the league to get those points, especially against the team who’s been dominating us for the past two years. So I think we should be automatically pissed off and ready, but we weren’t today. It’s on us to do the homework and make sure it never happens again.”

Wednesday, during a Bruins practice, NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun launched a new "Rumblings" article.

In that article, LeBrun gave out some massive bits of news on Bruins center and pending free agent Pavel Zacha.

"[Zacha's] name came up in conversations between the Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets when the Bruins inquired about Kirill Marchenko. It goes without saying that the Blue Jackets were smart to go the Matthew Knies route instead — getting a younger player who’s signed long-term on a great contract."

First, that is a major, major revelation. The Bruins offered up Zacha in exchange for Kirill Marchenko.

That would've been a monster blockbuster on its own, let alone the trickle-down effect.

That immediately says the Bruins see a clear future without Zacha in it. The Bruins would be able to shift Matthew Poitras up in the lineup, or move James Hagens back to the center position.

Sean Kuraly, who served as a healthy scratch Monday, could have his lineup spot back, too.

Perhaps trading Zacha in a deal like that makes the most sense, but it remains to be seen. The Bruins still would like to extend him in an ideal world, one would think.

LeBrun, however, wasn't done. He gave an update on the contract talks.

"As far as I can tell, though, the Bruins haven’t been close in talks with his camp over the past three months on what an extension should look like. I think they had some sticker shock in June when they heard what the player might be looking for.

"But as the summer has gone on and salaries skyrocketed around the league, I bet that number doesn’t seem as high."

Zacha's ask is likely well over $10 million AAV on a long-term extension. He plays at a premium position, plays all situations, and is coming a season where he scored 30 goals and 65 points.

Zacha's ability to play the wing in a pinch, along with his all-around abilities make him extremely valuable as a player.

Whether or not the Bruins have the stomach for the extension remains unclear.

LeBrun mentioned the Bruins being a bit hesitant after how the Elias Lindholm contract has aged, and the fear of having two long-term contracts that aren't aging super well.

LeBrun closed by saying if the Bruins aren't in the race and no extension has happened, it's a near-certainty Zacha gets dealt before the March 1 Trade Deadline.

It's a doozy of an update. The Bruins clearly are trying to be smart with how they manage the new cap, their roster during this retool era, and just basic asset management.

How things turn out going almost certainly comes down to how the team itself performs over the course of the regular season.