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Pavel Zacha

#18 · Centre · Boston Bruins

Born Apr 6, 1997 in Brno, CZE (age 29) · 6'4", 212 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 6th overall in 2015 by NJD (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Bokondji Imama FLA · 0 P in 4 GP Brad Lambert WPG · 0 P in 4 GP Brady Tkachuk FLA · 0 P in 4 GP Brandon Duhaime TOR · 0 P in 4 GP Brendan Gallagher VAN · 0 P in 4 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

02040602015-16: 2 points215-162016-17: 24 points2416-172017-18: 25 points2517-182018-19: 25 points2518-192019-20: 32 points3219-202020-21: 35 points3520-212021-22: 36 points3621-222022-23: 57 points5722-232023-24: 59 points5923-242024-25: 47 points4724-252025-26: 65 points6525-262026-27: 0 points026-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2015-16 NJD 1 0 2 2 4 0 3 1 2.00 $925K
2016-17 NJD 70 8 16 24 -17 19 83 54 0.34 $894K
2017-18 NJD 69 8 17 25 -3 30 112 70 0.36 $894K
2018-19 NJD 61 13 12 25 -6 15 99 68 0.41 $894K
2019-20 NJD 65 8 24 32 -12 14 97 62 0.49 $2.25M
2020-21 NJD 50 17 18 35 -11 10 103 42 0.70 $2.25M
2021-22 NJD 70 15 21 36 -21 22 148 80 0.51 $2.25M
2022-23 BOS 82 21 36 57 26 16 131 67 0.70 $3.5M
2023-24 BOS 78 21 38 59 12 18 148 106 0.76 $4.75M
2024-25 BOS 82 14 33 47 -8 21 132 63 0.57 $4.75M
2025-26 BOS 78 30 35 65 4 28 131 64 0.83 $4.75M
2026-27 BOS 4 0 0 0 1 0 8 2 0.00 $4.75M
12 seasons Career 710 155 252 407 -31 193 1195 679 0.57

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2017-18 NJD 5 0 0 0 -1 6 5 6 0.00
2022-23 BOS 7 0 6 6 1 2 15 10 0.86
2023-24 BOS 13 1 5 6 2 4 19 25 0.46
2025-26 BOS 6 1 2 3 -7 2 11 9 0.50
4 seasons Playoffs 31 2 13 15 -5 14 50 50 0.48

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 0 0 0 1 0 8 2 0.00 0.0 18:37

Contract

$4.75MCap hitends in 2027, then UFA
$1.877MCap dollars per goal above replacement2.5 goals above replacement, projected
$3.2MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$1.5MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over all of it: what the player has done so far, plus the games left at a rate taken from his last three seasons and this one. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 647 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Boston Bruins on Jan 14, 2023, as an extension of the contract he was on: 4 years and $19M, beginning in 2023-24. It runs through 2026-27, so this is its last season, after which he is an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2023-24 $4.75M $5.75M $0 $5.75M M-NTC
2024-25 $4.75M $3.75M $1M $4.75M M-NTC
2025-26 $4.75M $3.75M $1M $4.75M M-NTC
2026-27 $4.75M $3.75M $0 $3.75M M-NTC

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jan 14, 2023 Boston Bruins Extension 2023-24 to 2026-27 4 $19M $4.75M
Aug 8, 2022 Boston Bruins New contract 2022-23 to 2022-23 1 $3.5M $3.5M
Sep 10, 2019 New Jersey Devils New contract 2019-20 to 2021-22 3 $6.75M $2.25M
Aug 11, 2015 New Jersey Devils Entry-level 2016-17 to 2018-19 signed for 2015-16, slid 3 $5.325M $894K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 4 games (0.0 goals above replacement), plus the 78 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

+2.5Goals above replacement321st of 647 skaters, 233rd of 422 forwards
+0.4Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-1.5Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 422 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+1.9 69th percentileEven-strength defence-2.6 9th percentilePower play-0.2 38th percentilePenalty kill-0.3 12th percentilePenalties-0.4 17th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

-202462015-162017-182019-202021-222023-242025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

50.5Corsi for %51 attempts for, 50 against
-1.5CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
55.0Expected goals for %2.7 expected for, 2.2 against
-1.1xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
48.8Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
100.0Goals for %1 for, 0 against
105.0PDO5.0% shooting + 100.0% saves
15Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Pavel Zacha · Morgan Geekie · Casey Mittelstadt437:2852.249.11-0
David Pastrnak · Pavel Zacha · Morgan Geekie36:3650.086.00-0
Pavel Zacha · Casey Mittelstadt · JJ Peterka23:2860.096.40-0
Pavel Zacha · Morgan Geekie · JJ Peterka32:2225.00.00-0

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.3Expected goalsfrom 15 unblocked attempts
-1.3Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 1.04 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 8.6% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -1.3 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.51Expected 1.3Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 5, 2026 vs OTT L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 20:02
Oct 3, 2026 @ MIN L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 19:27
Oct 2, 2026 @ WPG W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 19:33
Sep 29, 2026 vs NYR W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 15:24