Boston Bruins re-sign Pavel Zacha to one-year contract

The Boston Bruins have re-signed forward Pavel Zacha to a one-year contract, the club announced Monday.

Zacha’s new contract carries a $3.5 million cap hit. The 25-year-old center had been slated to head to salary arbitration with the Bruins and is now eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The New Jersey Devils originally selected Zacha in the first round (No. 6 overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft. The 6’3″, 210-pound pivot spent the first seven seasons of his NHL career with the Devils before being traded to Boston last month.

The Bruins acquired Zacha from New Jersey on July 13 in exchange for forward Erik Haula. In Zacha’s final season with the Devils, he scored 15 goals and 36 points in 70 games; Haula, 31, racked up 18 goals and 44 points in 78 games with the Bruins during the 2021–22 regular season.

Zacha was born in Brno, Czechia on April 6, 1997. In 386 regular-season games with the Devils, he scored 69 goals and 179 points. He also appeared in five playoff games with New Jersey in 2018 but was held scoreless.

The Bruins also signed centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to one-year deals on Tuesday. Zacha was the team’s final RFA to sign this summer.

As things currently stand, the Bruins have nine forwards set to become unrestricted free agents in 2023: David Pastrnak, Nick Foligno, Zacha, Craig Smith, Bergeron, Tomas Nosek, Chris Wagner, Krejci, and Vinni Lettieri.