Calgary Flames have trade interest in Pavel Zacha: report
The Calgary Flames may have a new option available as management continues its search for more centre-ice depth.
Though the Flames were able to select two centremen in the first round of the 2025 draft, Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter, both players are years away from making an impact in the NHL. Assuming they pan out at all, that is.
As fans know, prospects are never a sure thing, which is why GM Craig Conroy continues to have interest in adding centres such as Morgan Frost, who already has NHL experience.
One particular name the Flames are now being linked to is Boston Bruins centreman Pavel Zacha. As per a report from Jimmy Murphy of RG Media, the Flames have expressed interest in the 28-year-old, though the Bruins aren’t interested in moving him at this time. That could change in the future, however.
“Several teams — I’m told the Flames are one — continue to express interest in him,” Murphy quoted a source as saying in his latest column.Â
The Bruins are in an interesting spot as a franchise, having finished dead last in the Atlantic Division last season. While they aren’t ready to declare a full rebuild, similar struggles in 2025-26 could see them move out several players, including Zacha.
Zacha makes sense for the Flames
Zacha is a 6-foot-3, 206-pound centreman who has taken big strides since being acquired by the Bruins from the New Jersey Devils ahead of the 2022-23 season. He surpassed the 20-goal and 50-point mark in each of his first two seasons with the Bruins, before regressing slightly in 2024-25 with 14 goals and 47 points in 82 outings.
Zacha can not only provide offence in a middle-six role, but is a strong defensive forward who can also kill penalties. He averaged 1:46 minutes per game on the penalty kill in 2024-25, which was tied with Elias Lindholm for the second-most minutes of any Bruins forward.
The left-shot forward is also good in the face-off dot. Last season saw him take 739 draws, the second-highest total of any Bruins forward. He won 53.2 per cent of those draws. The 2023-24 season saw him win 54.8 per cent of his 1,068 face-offs.
That in itself would be massive for the Flames, as Frost was their only centreman to finish above 50 per cent in faceoffs at 50.5. While not the sole reason, their lack of success in the draw played a part in their penalty kill ranking 25th in the NHL last season at just 76.1 per cent.
Zacha is locked up through the 2026-27 season on a very reasonable deal that sees him carry a cap hit of $4.75 million, while his contract includes an eight-team no-trade list. Whether or not the Flames would be a team on that list is unknown.
Given that he has an additional season on a team-friendly contract, however, means that Zacha wouldn’t come cheap.
The Flames would likely need to part ways with a solid prospect, perhaps even the recent draftee Potter, though that still wouldn’t be enough to get the job done. If the Bruins do wind up opting for a rebuild, they may be interested in draft picks as well, as the Flames have a combined 15 picks over the next two drafts, including two first-round selections in 2026.
As Murphy mentioned in his piece, the Bruins aren’t shopping Zacha at this time. That said, if they come slow out of the gates this season, it will be an interesting situation for Flames fans to keep an eye on.