The Boston Bruins announced Tuesday that they have re-signed defenseman Matt Bartkowski to a one-year contract and have signed 2014 first-round draft pick David Pastrnak to an entry-level deal.
Bartkowski and the Bruins avoided going to arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $1.25 million deal.
Bartkowski is coming off a solid first full NHL season. He’s still looking for his first career regular-season goal, but the 26-year-old chipped in offensively with 18 assists, and he was a plus-22 in 64 games.
“I thought that when Dennis Seidenberg got hurt, he was able to come in and play some real solid minutes,” Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said, via the team’s website. “He’s the type of player that can really push the puck well. A lot of people remember the couple of blips in the playoffs, but he gave us very good service during the course of the year with Seidenberg out, and it’s a tough position in the league, defense, and there are nuances that he’s still learning, and I expect him to continue to improve.”
The Bruins also signed Pastrnak, an 18-year-old Czech Republic native, after he impressed them with a strong showing at development camp last week. Chiarelli wasn’t willing to rule out Pastrnak making the roster out of training camp.
“He’ll end up coming to camp now, and he’ll get the experience of a training camp, and he’ll get some games,” Chiarelli said. “He had a terrific development camp, and I know everyone’s talking about him.
“He’s a good young player, he’s just 18 years old and he’s a player — it’s well-documented that we’re looking for skill and speed, and he fits that bill, but let’s not put the cart before the horse with David. I think we’re fortunate to get him where we got him (No. 25 overall), and he had a terrific camp, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Pastrnak appeared in 36 games in the Swedish B League last season, scoring eight goals and adding 16 assists.
