It’s still possible that the Bruins and David Pastrnak agree to a contract extension before opening night on Wednesday, but there are now just two days left for it to happen.
There has been little news regarding the two sides’ discussions stand since TSN’s Darren Dreger reported two weeks ago that talks “have heated up.” On Monday, Pastrnak, general manager Don Sweeney, president Cam Neely and CEO Charlie Jacobs were all asked about where things stand.
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The biggest takeaways are that the two sides are talking nearly every day, both sides are OK with discussions continuing into the regular season, and there still seems to be optimism on both sides that a deal will ultimately get done.
“Both sides have been open about continuing our talks, so I don’t think things change at all from that standpoint, unless David takes a different position,” Sweeney said of talks continuing past Wednesday. “But up until this point, we’ve been communicating regularly. When he feels comfortable, hopefully we finalize a deal, but there’s no timeline on that. We’re just gonna continue to communicate almost every day, to tell you the honest truth, and see if we can find a finish line.”
“Of course I’m comfortable,” Pastrnak said. “I really worry about just the hockey, to be honest. I have people working for me. I know [agent J.P. Barry] is in daily contact with Sweens. I don’t really worry too much besides playing hockey right now and obviously focusing on having a good start and making sure my game is right where I want it to be.
“…I know they’re talking every day, so obviously they’re trying to get something done,” Pastrnak added. “It’s good that they’re in touch. So, confident that it will get done, yeah.”
It’s unclear exactly what kind of money Pastrnak is looking for, but it’s possible the two sides still aren’t quite in line, even if they’re fairly close. The league-wide market would suggest that Pastrnak would be well within rights to seek even more than the $76 million Charlie McAvoy got over eight years last fall ($9.5 million AAV). Mathew Barzal just signed an extension with the Islanders for eight years at $9.15 million per year, and Pastrnak is clearly a better player than Barzal.
The Bruins have maintained all along that they want Pastrnak to be a Bruin for life and that they have made that clear to him. Jacobs said on Monday that ownership knows they have to be “aggressive” to get an extension finalized.
“David’s a special player,” Jacobs said. “We try not to comment, frankly, on ongoing negotiations, but David’s obviously a special player. We’re aware -- when I say we, ownership’s aware that we need to be aggressive in trying to re-up David to a new contract. To that end, Sweens and Cam have been working on that.”
Pastrnak continued to downplay the idea -- surfaced in reports over the summer -- that he wanted reassurances that the Bruins would continue to be Stanley Cup contenders even after Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retire, saying that he knows Boston will be trying to win every year.
“I think Boston is known for that,” Pastrnak said. “Even if they weren’t exactly a favorite before the season, I think Boston is always a contender. It always starts in playoffs. All you need to do is make the playoffs pretty much every year, and then anything can happen in playoffs. LA won twice from the wild card, right? I don’t worry about it, because I know Boston is gonna be a playoff team for a long time.”
That said, Neely acknowledged that the subject has come up in discussions, particularly as it relates to whom Pastrnak could have as his center moving forward.
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously as a shot-first winger, he certainly wants to know who the centerman is going to be,” Neely said. “We’ve made it very clear to David that we’re very aware of that particular position moving forward, and we’re going to do everything we possibly can to fill that void when that happens.
“I think he also sees that we signed Charlie McAvoy long-term. We’ve got two good goaltenders that are with us. We’ve got [Hampus] Lindholm long-term. Taylor Hall’s here for a few more years. Brad Marchand, a couple more years. So, we’re not stripping it down by any means. He’s certainly been told that, and he recognizes that. He knows that we’re in a good position this year, and we’re here to show everybody that we’re not stripping this thing down. We’re gonna build on it.”
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