The Sunday Read: Zacha, Mittelstadt Talk Fatherhood Ahead of Playoffs

BUFFALO –– Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt have been carpooling to the rink this week.

​The Boston Bruins forwards were alternating between two places: Warrior Ice Arena and the hospital with their newborn babies. So, it only made sense that they made the trips together.

​Mittelstadt and his fiancée, Tatum, welcomed their son, Macklin, on Tuesday. And, less than 24 hours later and a few doors down the hall, Zacha and his wife, Gaby, welcomed their daughter, Penelope, on Wednesday.

​“It was nice. I feel like, especially for me, I was the second one,” Zacha said. “So I was asking him questions when we were in the delivery room and all that stuff. You don’t usually experience it with another teammate, and a linemate, too, for me.”

​The first-time dads traded stories on the ride to practice on Thursday. Zacha and Mittelstadt were soon pushed to the middle of the on-ice stretch circle for the Bruins, showered with congratulatory stick taps.  

​“It was pretty easy, I think, coming into practice. I was excited to see everyone. Even two days without seeing guys during the year feels like a really long time,” Mittelstadt said. “Everyone was excited for us and very supportive.”

​With a playoff spot already clinched by Tuesday’s regular-season finale against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden, Mittelstadt sat out of the game to be there for Macklin’s birth. Zacha skated in the first period and logged an assist before leaving the matchup early to get to the hospital for Penelope’s eventual arrival.

​“You can tell the guys were excited about it. Even when Pav, he left after the first period, I could hear the locker room. The whole team was cheering, seeing him leaving. I’m like, it doesn’t make sense; he’s not that bad of a player,” head coach Marco Sturm joked. “But it just shows you, the guys are happy about it. They know exactly how big it is. And knowing Pav, he’s very quiet, but he has the big smile on his face, leaving the rink and getting ready to be a dad. It’s the best thing ever. Family is always the most important thing. Then hockey.”

​Zacha was one of the first people to meet Macklin. He just had to walk down the hall to say hello to Mittelstadt’s son.

​“That was pretty cool,” Mittelstadt said. “We were going to stop by and return the favor yesterday when we were leaving, but they were sleeping. I definitely let them sleep and get some rest.”

​Macklin and Tatum are now back at home and doing well, Mittelstadt said. While some have wondered if there is a connection between his son’s name and San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini, Mittelstadt – with a chuckle – confirmed it had been on Tatum’s list since she was a teenager.

“I was watching [Celebrini] absolutely light it up this year, and I was like, ‘Oh boy, this is going to be interesting,’” Mittelstadt said. “Everyone has said it, and that’s okay. I love the name, and I’m happy with it. Obviously, she was pretty sold on it for a long time now.”

As for Zacha and Gaby, they narrowed their name choice down to two before Penelope was born.

​“We waited until we saw her face, and we right away decided that’s what fits the most,” Zacha said.  

​Zacha and Mittelstadt will remember this week forever. They will also likely always remember the 2025-26 season as a whole. After getting put on a line together with Viktor Arvidsson at the start of the year, the trio built chemistry and turned into one of the B’s most productive combinations.

The second line leads the Bruins with 42 goals scored 5-on-5, and a 65.63 goals-for percentage through 59 games together – meaning they are consistently outscoring opponents. At the end of the regular season, Arvidsson, Zacha and Mittelstadt were the sixth-best 5-on-5 line in the entire NHL. It has pushed Zacha towards a career year with 65 points and 30 goals. Arvidsson hit the 25-goal mark, and Mittelstadt has 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists).

Arvidsson has enjoyed watching his linemates become dads. The veteran winger has two daughters, Navy and Jamie. Does Arvidsson have any advice for Zacha and Mittelstadt?

“Try to get your sleep, and just enjoy it,” he said. “It goes fast. Mine are already five and three. It’s been really fast.”

Navy, Arvidsson’s oldest daughter, is all-in on the Bruins’ playoff run. She is at the age where she is understanding Arvidsson’s job and the highs and lows of the season, he said.

“She just wants us to win the prize, she says,” Arvidsson said. “The big prize.”​

Arvidsson was close last season. He made it to the Stanley Cup Final with the Edmonton Oilers, where they lost to the Florida Panthers in six games. The 33-year-old played in 15 postseason games with Edmonton and posted seven points (two goals, five assists). Arvidsson’s experience is an asset to the B’s locker room, which has some players making their NHL playoff debuts.

“You’ve always got to be ready for everyone, whether you’re in the lineup or out of the lineup, you’ve got to be ready to play. Take care of yourself, be positive and bring energy,” Arvidsson said. “And just enjoy, too. You never know when you’re going to be in it again, and you have to make the most of it.”

​Zacha was last in the playoffs in the 2023-24 campaign with the Bruins; it was the third showing of his career. Mittelstadt made it to the postseason that same year with the Colorado Avalanche, the only time he has competed in spring hockey. Prior to that, Mittelstadt was with the Sabres for seven years. He was Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. Now, nearly 10 years later, Mittelstadt returns as a difference-maker on the opposing side.

“Maybe a little added extra juice for me to want to beat them. But I’ve said it all along, I loved my time there and I had great people and great friends there,” Mittelstadt said. “It will be interesting, but we will have to put that on hold for the series. We all know it’s hockey.”

It is a quick turnaround for Mittelstadt and Zacha, welcoming their babies and then immediately hitting the road for Games 1 and 2 of the first round at KeyBank Center. They are thankful, though, for the time they got together this week at home.

“The last few days before the birth were hard, knowing she could go at any moment. We were on the road for quite a while before, so that was tough. Now I feel like I lost 20 pounds,” Mittelstadt said. “My mother-in-law is in town to help out, and Tatum’s doing great. Big sigh of relief. And I think you can shift the focus a little bit, especially when we get on the road and get things going.”

Sturm, who first celebrated the family news for Zacha and Mittelstadt, is happy to have two of his top playmakers and goal-scorers ready to go for puck drop, with a bit more to play for now.

“I was a little nervous about the timing of it. But they made it,” Sturm said. “They planned it very well – do it right before the playoffs. It’s always a good thing.”

Zacha, Mittelstadt and Arvidsson have put together a season full of highlights – with dazzling dishes, timely tallies and dominant defensive details – en route to the chance to battle for the “big prize,” as Navy would say. It is now all about hockey. But family will always be the root of their motivation.

“I think it has been the whole year knowing my wife was pregnant, this was happening, it kind of switches the mindset when you come home. You really try to focus on leaving hockey here and put the mindset somewhere else at home,” Zacha said. “It’s going to help me, too, I think, not talking about hockey at home on the couch. Just talking about life and normal things. Now having a baby at home, it is going to be hard to leave. But it’s something that when you win, you can share it with her later, hopefully. That is something that I am looking forward to.”