“Gap in Positions is Real” Between Bruins and David Pastrnak

While he believes a deal will eventually get done, Pierre LeBrun writes in a recent article for The Athletic that, “There’s been ongoing dialogue, but my sense is the gap in positions is real” between the Boston Bruins and forward David Pastrnak.

LeBrun writes that the Bruins would have loved to have gotten an extension done before Christmas, but there is some space between where the Bruins — who want to maintain a team-friendly salary-cap culture — and Pastrnak. The forward says he doesn’t need to be the highest-paid player in the NHL, but he’s likely looking at holding to ensure he gets double digits per season on his next contract. And, LeBrun notes that Pastrnak’s agent is willing to go to bat for him and help the player wait things out in order to get what it is he wants in a new deal.

LeBrun writes, “As long as Pastrnak doesn’t blink, he’s got an agent willing to stand his ground and wait for the kind of deal that a special player like this deserves. Which is to say, an average annual value in double digits on a long-term deal.” Talks have been ongoing between both sides but this could be a deal that comes down to the wire.

LeBrun explains that there’s no way the first-place Bruins would trade Pastrnak at the March 3 trade deadline, so the new deadline becomes June 30, 2023, at midnight, before the player can hit the UFA market. LeBrun adds that neither side wants the negotiations to take that long.

“But it might take some Evgeni Malkin-like, 11th-hour drama around June 30 or July 1,” says LeBrun.

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