NHL trade rumors: Elliotte Friedman hints $19,000,000 Canucks trade target is not against move to Vancouver

The Vancouver Canucks are looking for Boston Bruins' Pavel Zacha as a possible option to solve their centermen issues. He is currently in the third season of his four-year $19 million contract with a $4.75 million annual average value.

According to Elliotte Friedman, speaking during the Saturday Night Headlines segment on Sportsnet on Saturday, the Canucks have been interested in bringing in Zacha since the offseason. Their recent struggles in production have led them to seek solutions in the market.

"The other thing to check on is Pavel Zacha and Vancouver," Friedman said. "My buddy Rick Dhaliwal reported that the Canucks contacted the Bruins about Zacha. That's true, and it's been going on for some time. All the way back to the summer, the Canucks and the Bruins have been on and off about this."

The Canucks lost J.T. Miller and Pius Suter last season via trades. Their issues have continued as both Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger found themselves injured this month. Chytil was taking up the second line center duties behind 1C Elias Pettersson, but suffered a concussion in a game against the Nashville Predators. Blueger has also been placed on the Injured Reserve due to an undisclosed injury.

Zacha currently plays on the second line for the Bruins. He was picked by the New Jersey Devils in the 2015 NHL Draft. In his first year in Boston in 2022-23, Zacha scored 57 points and repeated the success with 59 points the following season. In 2024-25, on a quality-depleted Bruins side, he scored 47 points in 82 games.

Friedman also shed light on his no-trade clause, revealing that the Canucks aren't among the eight teams that he has blacklisted.

"One thing about Vancouver in this case," Friedman said later. I"I do not believe they're on Zacha's no-trade list."

Elliotte Friedman says Bruins not compelled to trade Pavel Zacha

Owing to the status of his contract, which is expected to keep Pavel Zacha at the club till the end of the 2026-27 season, the Bruins aren't 100 percent likely to trade him, as per Friedman.

"Zacha is not in the last year of his deal," Friedman added. "He's got another year, and teams are looking for centres. Boston doesn't have to do anything it doesn't want to do, but this has been a dance that the Canucks and other teams are seeing if they can pry Zacha out of there."

The Czech professional has 2 goals and 9 points in ten games this season with 18:07 average ice time. He has scored 351 points in 638 regular season games in his career.