Despite No Recent Extension Talks With Bruins, Pastrnak Not Worried

In a recent interview with the Czech media outlet Blesk, Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak confirmed that contract extension talks with the Bruins are status quo and currently on hold. As the Bruins superstar winger pointed out, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney had a lot on his plate recently when he successfully negotiated new one-year contracts for unrestricted free agent centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

“The Bruins didn’t have a lot of time for me over the summer because they had other issues to attend to,” Pastrnak told Blesk. “I still have a one-year contract, so I’m not thinking about it at the moment and I want to prepare myself well physically.”

Note: Thanks Google Translate for the help. 

David Pastrnak is headed into the final season of a six-year, $6.6 million contract and since Sweeney met with Pastrnak’s agent, J.P. Barry at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal July 8-9, to express his intentions to begin negotiations on a contract extension for his client as soon as NHL rules permitted on July 13, there hasn’t been much traction at all on an extension. After signing Bergeron to a one-year, incentive-laden $2.5 million contract and Krejci to a one-year, incentive-laden $1 million contract extension, Sweeney told the media the the two sides were in contact have but also didn’t indicate any progress on locking up Pastrnak, who can hit the unrestricted free agent market next July.

“Ongoing would probably be the best way to describe it,” Don Sweeney said on August 10. “We’ve been in regular communication. Obviously, David’s still over in Europe and likelihood is he’ll come back and we’ll talk between now and then. When he gets back, we’ll maybe have a better idea of a deal timeline. But I don’t have one today and you guys know me well enough, I’m not going to comment publicly on ongoing negotiations, but we’ve been in regular contact with JP.”

Sweeney also didn’t seem too worried about the very real chance that Pastrnak could enter his walk season without a contract and the Bruins not knowing if they could lose him to the free agent market next July.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s part of the business,” Sweeney replied when asked about that possibility. “You know, leverage is out there and the conversations are ongoing. We’ve made our intentions known all along and we’ll continue to do that, and we’ll go from there. But you know, as far as entering the season with it, not a problem.”