One of the biggest stories that could play out this upcoming season is the contract situation between the Boston Bruins and their star goal-scoring winger, David Pastrnak. Pastrnak, a Rocket Richard trophy winner, will play the 2022-23 season on the final year of his $6.66M AAV deal and is undoubtedly in line to receive a significant raise on his next contract.
He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of this season, which has led many to speculate that he could leave Boston in a similar fashion to the way other star wingers, such as Johnny Gaudreau and Artemi Panarin, have left their teams as free agents.
According to Pastrnak, though, that’s not the ideal way for things to turn out. When asked today whether he was optimistic about an extension being finalized with the Bruins, Pastrnak answered yes, and added that he is “extremely happy” in Boston and that it’s an “honor” to wear the Bruins’ sweater. For the Bruins, getting Pastrnak signed to an extension has to be their number-one off-ice priority for next season. Pastrnak has scored at or above a point-per-game rate for the past four seasons and at 26 years old should have many prime years ahead of him. If the Bruins want to have any hope of remaining competitive in the next several years, they’ll need to find a way to keep Pastrnak around.
Now, for some other notes about preseason rumblings:
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