Pending UFA Pavel Zacha & Bruins do not seem to be on same page
There is a similar situation playing out in Boston with center Pavel Zacha... In a perfect world, sure, the Bruins would love to have him signed to a new deal, and there have been some discussions about that. But getting to the right number has proven to be a challenge. And it's a challenge, quite frankly, that teams and agents and players are wrestling with around the league...This will be an interesting one to wait out, because if Zacha isn't signed at some point during the season, he could very well find himself on the trade bait list as one of the few centres that could play in the top six that could be available... Boston would like to keep the player, but it's a bit of a dance… And my sense right now is that Zacha is in no rush to get anything done.
That was obvious during his comments with the media on the first day of camp (listen here), where he said things like, "I thought I’d just play it out and see what would happen..." and "(GM) Don (Sweeney) knows where we stand."
Zacha, 29, is coming off a career year, in which he recorded 30 goals and 65 points in 78 games. In the new ever-soaring salary cap era, those kinds of numbers should allow him to more than double his current AAV, $4.75 million. That four-year deal expires at the end of the season.
And while there will be great demand for him at the trade deadline, as CJ noted, the price he could command on the open market next summer will also be huge, if he has another season even close to the one he registered last year.
In 707 career games over 12 years, Zacha has recorded 155 goals and 407 points.