Pavel Zacha (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Boston Bruins forward Pavel Zacha is once again the subject of NHL trade rumors. A 4-6-0 start, which included a six-game losing streak, has NHL general managers swirling like vultures over the Bruins, specifically asking about Zacha, who was also the subject of NHL trade rumors this past offseason and dating back to the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.
“They’re getting calls daily on those guys and more so on Zacha,” an NHL source told RG last Friday night. “I know the Canucks really want him badly.”
That tip came 24 hours before Sportsnet NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman confirmed the Canucks’ interest on the ‘Saturday Headlines’ segment of Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday night.
“I think it’s all the way going back to the summer, the Canucks and Bruins have been on-off about this,” Friedman told host Ron MacLean. “Teams are looking for centers, Boston doesn’t have to do anything here it doesn’t want to do. But this has been kind of a dance with the Canucks and some other teams, seeing if they can pry Zacha out of there.”
That lines up with what RG was told this past Friday and also during the offseason, when it was reported here that the Canucks were one of multiple NHL teams interested in Zacha. However, according to another NHL source, the Bruins have made it clear to Zacha and his teammates that they’re not ready to throw the towel in on the season just yet by trading away a top 6, versatile forward from a goal-starved team such as theirs.
“They’re definitely listening on Zacha, [Casey] Mittelstadt, and other players, but it’s more knowing their options should they be out of the playoff race by American Thanksgiving or the New Year,” the source told RG. “The management staff and the coaching staff have let the players know that they still believe in them, so we will see where this goes.”
According to this source, if things do continue to go south for the Boston Bruins, one player on the Vancouver Canucks roster that the Bruins could ask about, if they haven’t already, is 23-year-old, 6-foot-3, 229-pound defenseman Victor Mancini. Mancini was acquired in the J.T. Miller blockbuster trade with the Rangers last Jan. 31, when the Canucks acquired him, Filip Chytil, and a conditional 2025 first-round pick for Miller.
“I know the Bruins liked him in his days at Omaha-Nebraska,” the source told RG. “I’m not sure there is an appetite on the Vancouver side to move on from so fast, but that’s a player I could see the Bruins looking at. Depending on how long [Hampus] Lindholm is out, though, maybe they’ll want to add more on the left side of their defense.”
The Calgary Flames expressed interest in Zacha in the offseason. However, like the Bruins, the Flames are off to a rough start and are getting tons of calls on their players, specifically Nazem Kadri. Friedman reported that Flames GM Craig Conroy was looking for scoring help, but, just as the Bruins may need to soon, the Flames may need to go into sell and not buy mode.
The second source above suggested that the Edmonton Oilers could be a fit for Zacha.
“They could slide him in perfectly to the 3C role below [Connor] McDavid and Leon [Draisaitl] and I really think Pavel would prosper in a 3C role like that,” the source opined to RG. “The Bruins and Oilers have already made two trades in the last year, so there’s some chemistry between [Stan] Bowman and Don [Sweeney] there.”
The Oilers acquired forward Trent Frederic in a three-way trade with the Bruins and Devils at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, and then traded forward Viktor Arvidsson to the Bruins on July 1.