Bruins players hope Pastrnak's contract is settled soon

In regards to David Pastrnak’s contract stalemate, teammate David Backes described it best.

“Lock them all in a room, with no food, until they figure it out,” Backes said.

Bruins players and fans agree with him.

The Bruins open training camp on Sept. 14 and every player in that locker room hopes to see No. 88 getting dressed at his stall.

“It’s tough,” said defenseman Torey Krug, who dealt with something similar and missed the start of camp in 2014. “It’s a tough situation for both sides. Going through it personally, not being here, you see the group is coming together. You’re missing captains’ practices and then it bleeds into camp and you’re missing testing, a couple of preseason games and it’s pretty frustrating sitting at home. I can imagine what he’s going through, but it’s the nature of the business sometimes. Both sides want him to be here and hopefully it gets done soon.”

The Boston Globe reported late Tuesday night that the sides were negotiating an eight-year deal. Originally, the Bruins offered the 21-year-old forward $6 million per season for either six or seven years, which team president Cam Neely said was a fair starting point given the market for similar players.

Pastrnak is looking for a deal in the range of $8 million per season for eight years. The sides were expected to continue talks on Wednesday, according to the Globe’s report.

“As a player, you definitely get a little bit itchy at times and you want to start inching your way towards camp and making sure you’re here,” Krug said. “It takes a lot of discipline from that side of things. The agent, obviously they know the business and they know how tough it is for the player. It’s the same for the organization and they want to get it done too.”

Krug understands how missing any portion of camp can affect one’s play to start the regular season and he hopes that’s not the case for Pastrnak.

“It’s important,” Krug said. “Sometimes you overlook the practice time and getting into those preseason games. A lot of guys don’t get too excited to play in those because of risk of injury and things like that, but it does go a long way. It gets your timing back and the shift-by-shift conditioning. Everyone comes into camp in great shape, but nothing can really replicate what you do in the games.”

David Krejci has participated in the last two captains’ practices at Warrior Ice Arena and said he’s talked with Pastrnak a few times during the offseason.

“It would be nice to have him here,” Krejci said. “We know the team wants him here and he wants to be here, so hopefully they can get it done pretty soon and he can come back here and start practicing with us.”

It’s been nearly a year since Brad Marchand and the Bruins agreed on an eight-year deal worth $49 million. The veteran winger also understands the business aspect but hopes Pastrnak returns sooner than later.

“I really haven’t been watching it too close,” admitted Marchand. “Something’s going to get done at some point and that’s how these things go sometimes. Obviously, we want Pasta on the team for a long time. He’s a great player and will be for this team, so hopefully it gets done soon.”

Pastrnak registered 34 goals and 36 assists for 70 points in 75 games last season.