Pavel Zacha reveals a clearer picture of Bruins' roster plans

There are plenty of question marks surrounding Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha. The first is whether he will even be on the roster once the regular season starts, as there are rumors that some other organizations have some interest in adding him. Another question is where he will play for the Bruins if he is on the roster, which could mean the difference in how the Bruins will address their depth issues.

As mentioned in the breakdown of Matej Blumel's first day of training camp, all signs are pointing to Zacha being part of the team on October 8. There are no guarantees that he makes it past the trade deadline, but he'll at least start the year in Boston. Zacha himself cleared up any confusion regarding his place on the roster earlier today, which opens even more questions regarding how Marco Sturm plans to roll out his forward group.

Zacha confirmed to reporters that Sturm plans to start him at center. While things could change, this would push the Bruins to a three-headed monster of Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, and Zacha. That rollout would signify that Sturm wants to create more depth down the lineup instead of loading up the top two lines, with my first concern being if the talent will stretch too thin with that strategy.

It also likely takes Matthew Poitras and maybe even Fraser Minten out of the running for a spot in the opening lineup. Unfortunately, the Bruins are prioritizing veterans over their younger players, which may have made the season a bit less exciting, considering some of the prospects would've at least given the fans something to look forward to. Instead, we're stuck with the same old strategy of character veterans in the bottom six.

Zacha staying at center likely increases the chances of some of the other younger players, who are not centers, making the team. Blumel is likely the main beneficiary, as he has gotten the first look by being paired with Zacha to begin camp. If he can perform well during the preseason, it'd be hard for Sturm to split them up to start the year. The problem is that the odds are stacked against him, with numerous depth players vying for spots.

Is it possible to see this group of four centres competing with some of the other sets in the league or even the Atlantic Division? In reality, this group is at least in the bottom-third, and putting them as high as 22 would even be a stretch. While I hope they prove us wrong, this group of centers has the potential to be one of the worst in the league.

The hopes are that the defense, goaltending, and wingers will pick up some of the slack. However, while the Bruins might get away with it during the regular season, you need to be strong down the middle to perform if they somehow steal a playoff spot, and unfortunately that just doesn't seem realistic.