Zacha would be a great asset to the Canucks, who are currently dealing with multiple injuries at center alongside an already thin pool of players down the middle.
For the Vancouver Canucks, the hunt for centers has been occurring long before last week’s injury to Filip Chytil — and Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha has been one of their targets. On Saturday night, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman remarked that the Canucks have been interested in Zacha as long ago as during the off-season.
“Teams are looking for centres, Boston doesn’t have to do anything here it doesn’t want to do,” Friedman explained during Sportsnet’s broadcast. “But this has been kind of a dance with the Canucks and some other teams, seeing if they can pry Zacha out of there.”
The Sportsnet insider also noted that he “do[es]n’t believe” that the Canucks are on Zacha’s no-trade list, which is part of his four-year, $4.75M AAV contract that expires at the end of the 2026–27 season.
Zacha would be a great asset to the Canucks, who are currently dealing with multiple injuries at center alongside an already thin pool of players down the middle. Lukas Reichel, who was acquired on Friday, played at center last night but has historically spent more time on the wing. Filip Chytil is currently unavailable for an undetermined amount of time, while Teddy Blueger is expected to be out for a couple more weeks.
Statistically speaking, Zacha would give Vancouver quite a big boost. The forward currently has two goals and seven assists in 10 games played with the Bruins. Most importantly, he currently has a faceoff win percentage of 59% on the season — the only full-time center on the Canucks who has a win percentage of higher than 50% is Aatu Räty, who has logged 56.98%.
Vancouver will look to bounce back from a 4–3 loss to the Montréal Canadiens tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT.
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