Devils select Zacha sixth overall
With the 6th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the New Jersey Devils selected Sting centreman, Pavel Zacha.
With today’s announcement from Sunrise, Florida, Zacha becomes the 10th Sting player to be drafted in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft. This illustrious list includes Steven Stamkos, Nail Yakupov, Alex Galchenyuk, Jeff Heerema, Patrick Desrochers, Anthony DeAngelo, Jeff Brown, Matt Pelech and Nikolay Goldobin.
After being selected by Sarnia in the 2014 CHL Import Draft, Pavel notched 34 points (16 G, 18A) in 34 regular season OHL games. The 6’3″, 210 lbs forward added two goals and an assist in round one of the OHL playoffs against the Erie Otters, recipients of the 2014-15 Wayne Gretzky Trophy.
The Brno, Czech Republic native spent the 2013-14 season with Bili Tygri Liberec of the Czech Extraliga before joining Sarnia in September. Zacha played alongside former NHLer, Petr Nedved with Bili, and credits his teammate for helping his development,.
“He would help me in practices and talk to me in the locker room,” comments Zacha. “I was young and to have a guy like Petr Nedved come over to you, sit down and ask if I had any questions was something I’ll never forget. We talked about the style of play in North America, how to shoot it during a game from all areas and what decisions I needed to make quickly,” Zacha said. “It wasn’t so much preparation as it was on-ice stuff. How to make plays and how to shoot from the corner.”
In his young career, Zacha has represented the Czech Republic in a number of international tournaments, including two stints at the World Juniors, and most recently the U18 World Championships. In 5 games at the 2015 Ice Hockey U18 World Championships in Switzerland, Zacha tallied 5 goals for his country.
