This offseason has been pretty quiet for the Boston Bruins. Rather than making any big trades or free agent splashes, Boston has elected to focus on resigning and extending the players already on their roster.
One of the Bruins’ top priorities has been to resign their right winger David Pastrnak. However, for some reason weeks have gone by and there hasn’t been any new news.
Pastrnak had a breakout season last year and looks to be one of Boston’s key pieces for the future. During the 2016-2017, campaign he accumulated 70 points and his 34 goals were the tenth most of any skater in the NHL.
With Pastrnak being a restricted free agent, one would think the Black and Gold’s top priority would be to resign the star forward, but here we are at the end of July and no new deal is in place. For some reason weeks have gone by and there hasn’t been any new news.
Many speculated that the Bruins were waiting for Ryan Spooner’s arbitration hearings, but Boston just recently signed Spooner to a one-year deal.
This means that the most likely scenario is that the Pastrnak and the Bruins can’t agree to terms on a contract. Pastrnak has made it clear that his first choice would be to remain in Boston, so it is likely that he is delaying in order to get some more favorable numbers on his contract.
It is easy to jump to the conclusion that he wants more money, however he could also be disputing the longevity of his contract. Boston is going to want to lock up Pastrnak for six or seven years, but the star forward may be looking for a three or four year contract. Pastrnak is only 21, so after several seasons with the Bruins, he may wish to test free agency down the line while he’s 26 or under.
Time will tell, but the Bruins don’t have a solid track record of locking up “goal scorers”.
