NHL Insider: Pastrnak Willing To Talk Contract During Season

According to Sportsnet NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, there has been no hard deadline set by the David Pastrnak camp when it comes to talks on a contract extension with the Boston Bruins.

“One of the things I’ve heard about Pastrnak, is that he’s not afraid to continue discussions into the season. I don’t believe there’s a hard deadline here,” Friedman told co-host Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. “I think Pastrnak, from everything I’ve seen of this guy, and heard and read about this guy, he has a real healthy balance about his life and competitive nature and where he is. I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who’s going to be bothered by it too much. So, I’ve heard he won’t be afraid of letting the conversations go into the season.”

Considering the season begins two weeks from Wednesday, and based on recent comments from Pastrnak and Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, there has been no progress towards an extension, this has to come as good news for the Bruins and their fans. On September 16, David Pastrnak told reporters for the first time that his heart is set on signing an extension with the Bruins and not testing a free agent market that would have teams lining up to make him one of the highest paid players in the NHL.

“Yeah of course,” Pastrnak replied when asked if he was opportunistic that he and the Boston Bruins can reach an agreement on a new contract past 2022-23. “This city is where I got the chance to become the player I am. …become the human being I am, and the Boston organization is an unbelievable part of that. So, I came here as a kid and now I’m a man. So I’m extremely happy and a lot of great memories and I don’t know how many times I said I love it here and it’s an honor to wear this jersey.”

Five days later, Sweeney didn’t seem too concerned either about the reality that the contract extension talks would creep into the 2022-23 regular season.

“I don’t think there’s a concern,” Don Sweeney told reporters on Sept. 21. “David would be the only one to ideally speak to that. Perfect world, as we’ve referenced, (we) try and be aggressive to have him sign long-term as a lifelong Bruin. It’s always been our goal. I think David shed a little light in terms of where he was at personally. And we respected that.  I’ve had conversations, I’m going to continue to have conversations and I’d ideally like to get it done at the earliest point possible. And hopefully, he feels the exact same way, and his camp. So that’s what our goal is. Outside of that, I’m not going to comment on anything else, other than that’s ultimately what we’d like to do.”