When the Bruins obtained heart/wing Pavel Zacha from the Devils for Erik Haula, a part of the concept was that they have been buying and selling an older veteran on an what could be an expiring contract for a 25-year-old participant who might assist fill within the present gaps on the heart place down the highway.
That’s why it was a little bit little bit of a head scratcher when Zacha, a restricted free agent who had filed for arbitration, settled on a one-year deal price $3.5 million on Monday.
But to take a look at it one other method, the deal may benefit either side. With the return of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, the B’s are up in opposition to the wage cap and the one-year deal presumably saved the cap quantity down. As a comparability, Arizona signed ahead Lawson Crouse, who has 56-54-110 totals in 346 profession NHL video games, to a five-year extension price $4.3 million yearly. You must suppose {that a} long run deal for Zacha (386 video games performed, 69-110-179 totals) would have are available at that quantity or perhaps a little greater.
One the opposite hand, Zacha is now one-year away from unrestricted free company, including some danger for either side. He has a chance to up – or harm – his worth whereas serving to the B’s assemble a roster extra able to success, each team-wise and personally for him. The B’s might additionally lose him for nothing if he performs his method out of what the crew believes is his price.
Zacha was pleased with the deal.
“We talked with my agent and Boston and we kind of made a decision on just focusing on this one year, bringing guys like Bergie and Krejci (back) and having a chance to have a good year as a team and I think that was the biggest thing for both sides, just focusing on one year. If everything goes well, they know that I want to stay in Boston for a long time. I think it was more of a focus on staying here for one year and focusing on this season,” mentioned Zacha on a Zoom convention on Tuesday.
“I think we met where we wanted. I got exactly what I wanted for a contract there with I think helping the team and I think I can help them for next season just trying to get as good a team as possible so we can all play. It’s all about winning for us next season, so I thought it was a good deal.”
Zacha mentioned he’s admired from afar how among the high gamers right here have tried to make their offers match beneath the cap whereas serving to the crew to stay aggressive.
“We know how good Boston always was, especially when I played against Boston,” mentioned Zacha. “You saw the cap and what really good players make here. You can tell it’s a winning culture and something that if teams are willing to win, it’s something you do with players. It starts with the captain, and it’s really nice. On this team, with everyone I talked to, it’s all about winning. It’s really exciting for me to be here.”
There is a consolation stage right here for Zacha. He is now considered one of 5 Czech-born gamers (Krejci, David Pastrnak, Jakub Zboril and Tomas Nosek being the others) and he has a very good relationship together with his former Devil teammate Taylor Hall, who was one of many first gamers to textual content him when he was traded to the B’s. Krejci’s recreation was one thing of a template for Zacha.
“I watched him a lot,” mentioned Zacha. “He’s a very skilled two-way center. It’s something you look up to and try to learn from. I’m just really excited that he decided to come back and play here. Having five Czech players on a team doesn’t happen that often, so it’s exciting for me and everyone coming back.”
With the return of Bergeron and Krejci, and with Charlie Coyle pretty ensconced because the third line heart, the left-shooting Zacha believes he”ll be taking part in largely wing this upcoming. He might slot in subsequent to Coyle, or he might even see a while with Bergeron till Brad Marchand is prepared after low season hip surgical procedure. But whereas he’s all the time been a conscientious two-way participant, he hopes to take his offensive manufacturing to a different. He had his finest point-per-game output two years in the past when he posted 17-18-35 totals in 50 video games.
“I was a little bit focused on defense more than I should have,” mentioned Zacha. “Everyone was telling me, even (former Devils assistant Mark Recchi), you have a great shot. You have to get to the net a little more, shoot the puck and be a little more selfish. It’s something I try to work on. And getting the opportunity to play. The year before last, I got more of an opportunity to play and I showed a little bit more. Last year was a little bit different for me (15-21-36 in 70 games). I’m just excited to be with this good team and get better with that offense. I think I can bring that to the table next year.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com