Perfect Player for the Maple Leafs Becomes Available, But a Deal is Complicated

The Toronto Maple Leafs are still looking to improve their roster, but it certainly hasn't been easy since the on-set of the free agency. Almost every move they want to make hinges on moving David Kampf or Calle Jarnkrok and teams aren't biting.

However, things could be opening up on the trade front, at least according to a recent report coming out of Boston from beat reporter Jimmy Murphy, who stipulates that the Bruins are reportedly shopping centre Pavel Zacha.

While it's hard to conceive a trade could be brewing between two bitter rivals outside of a deadline deal, the Bruins finished with the one of the worst records last year and are looking to off-load some of their current NHL players.

They also moved Brandon Carlo to Toronto at the trade deadline so there's certainly enough of a relationship between both GMs to at least talk.

Zacha was selected 6th overall pick in 2015 but never lived up to that hype with New Jersey. In three seasons with the Bruins, he's recaptured some of that magic with 107 goals and 163 points in 242 games compared to his 179 points in 7 seasons with the Devils.

The Czechia native also has a 52.9% success rate on the face-off dot with the Bruins, has averaged 17:44 ATOI, and has become an underrated two-way forward in recent years, even generating some Selke Trophy votes in 2023-24.

Zacha's cap hit is at $4.75 million until the end of the 2026-27 season, whereas the Leafs currently have $1.91 million in cap space to work with, meaning they would have to add salary fillers going the other way like Kampf or Jarnkrok.

Additionally, Toronto might have to throw in Nicholas Robertson due to the lack of valuable assets they have to offer in the form of prospects or picks.

Robertson signed a new deal and avoided arbitration last week and would give the Bruins an NHL-ready winger to implement in their lineup.

Zacha would be the perfect addition for the Leafs as he would represent another top-6 option who can play in all situations. He can also provide secondary scoring to supplement the top guns and shut down the opposition's top lines, while seamlessly fitting into Craig Berube's system.