BRIGHTON, Mass. — One of the bigger questions the Bruins face is the future of David Pastrnak.
The forward is entering the final year of a team-friendly six-year, $40 million contract with Boston and has yet to sign an extension. General manager Don Sweeney said over the summer that talks were “ongoing” and Pastrnak expressed confidence that something would get done at some point.
There never was any timeline for a Pastrnak extension to be finalized, and with Opening Night two days away, not much has changed in that regard.
“David is a special player,” CEO Charlie Jacobs said Monday at Warrior Ice Arena. “We try not to comment on ongoing negotiations but David is a special player. Ownership is aware that we need to be aggressive to re-up David to a new contract. To that end, (general manager Don Sweeney) and (president) Cam (Neely) have been working on that.”
Getting a deal done before the season would eliminate any potential distraction for the Bruins and for Pastrnak, but neither side seem too worried about having the looming extension hanging over their heads.
“Both sides have been open about continuing our talks, so I don’t think things change at all from our standpoint, unless David takes a new position. Up until this standpoint, we’ve been communicating regularly and when he feels comfortable, hopefully we finalize a deal,” Sweeney said. “There’s no timeline on that. We’ll keep communicating every day to tell you the honest truth, and see if we can find a finish line.”
With the 2022-23 NHL season potentially being Patrice Bergeron’s last one, it’s fair to wonder what kind of pitch the Bruins have made to Pastrnak — who led the Bruins with 40 goals last year.
“We’re not stripping it down here,” Neely said of how he sees the future plans. “We’re gonna build on it.”
Pastrnak without a doubt is someone you should build your team around and he revealed he remains confident a deal will get done and is comfortable having these kinds of discussions in-season.
“I know they’re talking every day,” Pastrnak said. “They’re trying to get something done. It’s good that they are in touch. Confident it will get done.”
Now it’s just a waiting game.
Pastrnak and the rest of the Bruins are preparing for their season opener Wednesday night when they take on the Washington Capitals. Puck drop from Capital One Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET. The game will air on TNT, but you can catch an hour of pregame coverage and an hour of postgame coverage following the final horn on NESN.
