Pavel Zacha hoping to fill the Boston Bruins’ void at center

A year ago at this time, Pavel Zacha was seen as more of a curiosity than a huge acquisition by Bruins fans. But as of this moment and barring a franchise-altering trade, Zacha is the B’s No. 1 centerman.

Whether or not he’s up to the task will go a long way toward determining if the B’s can stay afloat in the deepening Atlantic Division waters.

The one-time sixth overall pick of the New Jersey Devils, obtained for well-traveled veteran last summer, got a taste of what’s in store for him late in the season and in the playoffs when the now-retired Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci were both injured. He’s relishing the

A year ago at this time, Pavel Zacha was seen as more of a curiosity than a huge acquisition by Bruins fans. But as of this moment and barring a franchise-altering trade, Zacha is the B’s No. 1 centerman.

Whether or not he’s up to the task will go a long way toward determining if the B’s can stay afloat in the deepening Atlantic Division waters.

The one-time sixth overall pick of the New Jersey Devils, obtained for well-traveled veteran Erik Haula last summer, got a taste of what’s in store for him late in the season and in the playoffs when the now-retired Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci were both injured. He’s relishing the opportunity ahead.

“It’s a position that you want to be in in your career,” the 26-year-old Zacha told the Herald earlier this week. “I was able to try it the last last couple of weeks in the season and the first couple of games in the playoffs. I got the opportunity to play that role with Charlie Coyle. That’s something every player wants to be in that position. We’ll see how it’s going to work out, but I’m excited and it’s the position you dream about being in, especially as a center. With the team we’re going to have next year, it’s going to be a great challenge for me.”

If Zacha can continue the upward trajectory he was on throughout last season, it could work out reasonably well for the B’s. He bounced throughout the lineup but eventually settled into a role as the left wing on the Czech line with Krejci and David Pastrnak. The 6-4, 200-pound forward enjoyed career highs in goals (21) and assists (36) while providing size, strength and battle-winning prowess to complement his highly-skilled countrymen.

Zacha was a work in progress for much of the season as he adapted to his new surroundings and rebuilt his confidence. That’s a process that should be behind him, though there are still areas for improvement.

“The first two or three months I was trying to find my game and after being there a couple of months and getting to know all the players and coaches, it really helped me. I think I was a better player by the end of the season than I was at the start,” said Zacha. “That’s something I want to do again this year. It’s just way more comfortable coming to the rink, staying here the whole summer and training here and basically knowing what people want from me. I’m just focusing my game and getting better at that. I don’t have to think about building new relationships with coaches and stuff like that this year. That’s something I went through last year.”

If he’s to be a top center, Zacha must improve on his faceoffs, especially with Bergeron and Tomas Nosek, both of whom won around 60% of their draws last year, no longer in the picture. Zacha took 296 faceoffs and won just 45.3% of them. But there is a glimmer of hope in that in his final two years in Jersey, after taking his lumps in the circle as a young player, he finished at over 50%. His best season was in 2020-21 when he won 51.5% of the 606 draws he took.

“I think it’s repetition and working on it. Doing it all the time helps you a lot,” said Zacha. “When you don’t play 20 games at center, you kind of slow down a little bit. We have a great coaching staff that can help us with that, too. If you want to play center, you have to win faceoffs so that you can start with the puck. I know how important that is.”

Slotting Zacha as the No. 1 center may seem like a big leap to some. But if he’s going to play with Pastrnak, which would make sense considering their time together last season, that line will get its points, no matter who is on left wing, whether it’s Jake DeBrusk, James van Riemsdyk or someone else who may pop in camp. And remember, the B’s won games 3 and 4 in Florida when they were without Bergeron and Krejci.

“It was great that we got to play together last year and try to get some chemistry going together,” said Zacha of Pastrnak. “Everyone knows he’s a great player. He’s super skilled and a great goal scorer. We found that we work really well together and I’m excited to hopefully get a chance to play with him next year and even improve on what we did last year and pick up where we left off.”

Now Zacha hopes to implement the education he received while playing with a master center in Krejci.

“I grew up looking up to him with the two-way game that he plays,” said Zacha. “He’s one of the smartest players that I played. And just seeing him on the ice, he’s really good on the power play, just seeing how he reads the game. And of course, everyone knows how good of a guy he is off the ice. It was a pleasure playing with him and an honor playing with him the last season of his career. I’m happy that I was able to do that and I learned a lot from him.”