Earlier this week, Bruins president Cam Neely said he believed general manager Don Sweeney would be meeting with David Pastrnak's agent, J.P. Barry, at some point during the NHL Draft in Montreal to discuss an extension.
Sure enough, that meeting did in fact take place. So, how'd it go? Sweeney was asked about Friday afternoon.
"As a hockey player, David could score 50 goals in this league," Sweeney said. "He's been a really good player. He continues to be a really good player. He's a superstar in the league and he's a superstar around the world. We're fortunate to have him. Our meeting with J.P. went well and they're going to talk to David and attack it as soon as we can. They know the position the organization is in and how aggressive we'd like to be. David has a say in that obviously, so you hope the two things align. And you move forward in an aggressive manor. You're right, he's a big part of the Boston Bruins."
Sweeney said the two sides didn't exchange any contract figures just yet, but that he made it clear that the team wants to make Pastrnak a Bruin for a long, long time.
"We haven't exchanged numbers," he said. "We're just talking and being aggressive and saying we'd like David to be a lifelong Bruin. Strongly indicated to him we'd like him to be a lifelong Bruin."
Neely said on Wednesday that he felt "very positive" about how the discussions with Pastrnak and his camp would go.
Pastrnak, who ranks fifth in the NHL in goals over the last five years, is entering the final season of a six-year, $40 million contract he signed in 2017. He will be eligible to sign an extension on July 13, when he'll be one league year out from his contract expiring. That's the same day free agency begins.
While there had been rumors that Pastrnak may not want to sign an extension, neither he nor his agent have ever given any public indication that there's any truth to that notion.
The Bruins can offer Pastrnak up to eight years. If he goes to free agency next summer, other teams would only be able to offer him seven. A decent guess at what a Pastrnak extension might look like would be something in the neighborhood of what Charlie McAvoy signed for in October: Eight years, $9.5 million per year. McAvoy's deal kicks in this season.
If Pastrnak does give the Bruins any indication that he doesn't want to re-sign, then they would have to seriously consider trading him this summer rather than risk losing him for nothing next summer. But again, so far that hasn't happened, as far as we know.
