The Bruins locked up one of their Czech forwards Saturday night, signing Pavel Zacha to a four-year, $19 million extension.
Naturally, everyone's follow-up question was: Hey, what about that other Czech forward extension we've all been waiting to hear about? You know, the one for David Pastrnak?
Well, that one still isn't done, but there were some encouraging updates this weekend.
First, Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada that while some things still need to get done, the Bruins and Pastrnak "have been making some progress."
Then on Sunday, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald confirmed as much via a text from Pastrnak's agent, J.P. Barry, who said, "We have made progress from a month ago it is fair to say."
That's a different tone than even two weeks ago, when Barry told Conroy that it was too hard to say whether any progress had been made.
For his part, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney declined to provide any updates when asked about talks with Pastrnak on Saturday.
Obviously, Bruins fans wish this deal had gotten done months ago and don't want it delayed any longer, but the fact that we're now getting reports from a national insider like Friedman and on-the-record confirmation from Pastrnak's agent that progress is in fact being made has to be encouraging.
The Bruins want to keep Pastrnak, and Pastrnak wants to stay in Boston. It certainly seems like this will eventually get done, but for now, the two sides still aren't quite at the finish line.
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