Boston Bruins 2023-24 Season Report Cards: Pavel Zacha
While the Boston Bruins’ centennial season did not net a Stanley Cup championship and give the Bruins faithful another duckboat parade, the season was not a complete failure. The organization celebrated 100 years of Bruins hockey with a few trips down memory lane and era nights at the TD Garden.
The Bruins also finished with another 100-point season, good for second in the Atlantic Division. With the season over, we can reflect on how players performed and give them an overall grade. Today’s report card will be for center Pavel Zacha.
Zacha Thriving in Boston
By some accounts, Zacha fell out of favor with the New Jersey Devils. The emergence of Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes bumped him down the depth chart. Heading into a contract year, the Bruins sent center Erik Haula to the Devils for Zacha in the 2021-22 offseason, and both players benefited and helped fill a void on their new team.
During the Bruins’ historic Presidents’ Trophy-winning season (2022-23), Zacha emerged. Before then, he had been a consistent 20-30-point player, and many wondered if he had an extra gear in him. He found that gear and finished the campaign with 21 goals and 57 points, both career highs. Like Charlie Coyle, he needed to step up and fill the shoes of newly departed Bruins greats Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, and he did.
