David Pastrnak will probably be on the ice when the Bruins absolutely open coaching camp on Thursday. Will he be right here for subsequent yr’s camp and the one after that and so forth? That continues to be to be decided.
But in his press convention on Wednesday after the gamers underwent their pre-camp testing, GM Don Sweeney did his greatest to not say a lot concerning the ongoing negotiations along with his star proper wing, who’s coming into the ultimate yr of his contract earlier than unrestricted free company.
Pastrnak stated final week that he wouldn’t thoughts negotiating through the season, and on Wednesday Sweeney reiterated that very same place.
“I don’t think there’s a concern (with that). David would be the only one to ideally speak to that. In a perfect world we would try and be aggressive, to have him sign long-term as a life-long Bruin. It’s always been our goal,” stated Sweeney. “David shed a little light in terms of where he was at personally and we respected that. I’ve had conversations and I’m going to continue to have conversations. Ideally I’d like to get it done at the earliest point possible and hopefully he feels the exact same way with his camp. That’s what our goal is.”
Pastrnak expressed confidence final week {that a} deal will get achieved however, as is his method, Sweeney performed it nearer to the vest than the participant when requested the identical query,
“I really don’t expand until a deal is done. Because things just change,” stated Sweeney. “You recognize that there’s factors in play and (comparable) groups and you just try to grind it out. Ultimately, you’ve got to find common ground and the player has to be happy and we’re going to try to do that.”
One issue that shifted the panorama was the mammoth contract extension that Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon signed on Tuesday, making him the league’s highest paid participant at $12.6 million a season for eight years beginning subsequent season.
Pastrnak is probably not fairly in the identical echelon as MacKinnon, who’s coming off a Stanley Cup victory and performs middle. But he’s not that far off, both. MacKinnon, a yr older than Pastrnak, has 648 factors in common season NHL video games and 93 factors in 70 playoff video games. The 26-year-old Pastrnak has 504 factors in 510 common season video games and 74 factors in 70 playoff video games. Pastrnak has hit the 40-goal aim plateau twice and MacKinnon has achieved it as soon as.
Pastrnak may properly strategy Charlie McAvoy’s $9.5 million AAV and maybe turn out to be the B’s first $10 million man. Some group within the NHL will surely pay him that. How a lot he’s prepared to assist the B’s out, and the way a lot worth he places on taking part in in a metropolis and for a group he clearly loves stays to be seen. But an enormous hometown low cost wouldn’t look like within the playing cards on this deal.
Much was made from each Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci taking team-friendly, one-year offers. But Sweeney acknowledged that these two veterans are at totally different levels of their careers than Pastrnak, whose subsequent contract would be the most profitable of his profession.
“The salary cap is a dynamic in any of these equations that we’re trying to put together. I don’t think there’s much of a comparable between where Patrice and David are in their careers. We’re grateful that they’re still playing hockey at the level they’re capable of,” stated Sweeney. “David (Pastrnak) is a young player in the prime of his career and I think when Patrice and David Krejci signed their (previous) contracts, they were market value deals. And I expect us to approach it the same as we did with all our other deals, whether it was Charlie McAvoy or anybody else… I think we’ve been pretty consistent in trying to put marketplace deals (together). That’s just what it requires. They’re really good players. They have leverage.”
While Sweeney is definitely appreciative of Bergeron and Krejci of he offers that had been signed, it may well create a notion across the league that the B’s are all the time getting their guys signed on sweetheart offers.
“Let’s be honest, the media doesn’t help us in that regard from a negotiation standpoint,” stated Sweeney. “But we have to do our job, and ultimately that’s what I’m going to try and do. As an organization, we’ve been wanting to retain our good players, our young players and David’s one we want to retain.”
Odds and ends
One of the largest query marks going through the B’s will probably be how the protection holds up with out McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk within the lineup to start out the season. Coach Jim Montgomery stated that he desires to pair veterans Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo every with younger gamers in mentorship roles for camp however expects they’ll play collectively as soon as the season begins.
The B’s have simply two established righthanded defensemen with McAvoy on the shelf, Carlo and Connor Clifton. Montgomery stated that Jakub Zboril will get the primary crack at taking part in his off facet however he’s additionally snug with Mike Reilly and, when he’s wholesome, Grzlecyk taking part in on the suitable as properly…
Montgomery stated Fabian Lysell will doubtless be within the lineup within the group’s first preseason recreation on Saturday in Philadelphia. He expects it to be a younger lineup…
Sweeney stated he nonetheless has a tryout provide excellent however the participant continues to be deciding what he desires to do….
While he expects to have Taylor Hall-Krejci-Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha-Bergeron-Jake DeBrusk to start out as his first two traces, Montgomery didn’t wish to speculate on the underside six till he’s in a position to do extra analysis…
Matt Filipe (decrease physique) won’t be prepared for the beginning of camp.
Source: www.bostonherald.com