NHL Notebook: In wake of Xander Bogaerts' exit, Bruins need to learn from Red Sox' mistakes amid Pastrnak contract talks

In a far from a shocking development, Don Sweeney and the Bruins haven’t blinked when it comes to their now months-long negotiation with David Pastrnak and his representatives.

And if there is any semblance of concern brewing when it comes to the current trajectory of these consequential contract talks, Sweeney and Co. certainly aren’t letting that trepidation echo out to the media.

"(Agent) J.P. (Barry) and I talk almost every day, as Pasta references,” Sweeney said when asked about his last official update of Pastrnak’s contract talks back in late October. “Just trying to find the common ground and hopefully we get to a point that we can announce, but we're not there, other than the updates I reference. Communication has been good, just having found the end point yet." 

Of course, staying the course and not shedding much light on the various negotiations unfolding behind the scenes has routinely been the M.O. of Boston’s top brass for years now. 

Keeping their cards close to their vest has usually worked in favor of Boston, resulting in both below-market signings for Pastrnak in 2017 and hefty deals for franchise cogs like Charlie McAvoy ($9.5 million AAV through 2030) that are looking better and better with each passing day (especially once the cap ceiling spikes in the coming years). 

But when factoring in the franchise-altering ramifications in play if Pastrnak does opt to hit free agency this summer — coupled with the parallels that can be drawn from the Red Sox’ own handling of Xander Bogaerts’ departure to San Diego earlier this week — it’s to be expected for some fans to interpret the Bruins’ slow-but-steady approach as the equivalent of Frank Drebin downplaying the fiery inferno erupting behind him in The Naked Gun.

Yes, considering the pure sum of money and term that is routinely doled out during the feeding frenzy that is MLB free agency, it’s not entirely fair to compare baseball’s market to the checkbooks available for NHL franchises. 

Still, even if Pastrnak isn’t in line to command an 11-year deal paying out at roughly $30+ million per year, there are still plenty of lessons that the Bruins should heed when it comes to how the Sox let their homegrown star slip through their grasp once the rest of the league could start bidding. 

And while the Red Sox were perhaps wise not to watch that exorbitant deal handed out by the Padres, their cardinal sins were not locking in Bogaerts to a new deal before the 2022 season commenced — and subsequently getting caught off-guard by the maelstrom of offers that followed for their franchise shortstop this week.

In some respects, the Bruins have already committed that first infraction when it comes to its handling of Pastrnak, with the inability to ink the franchise winger to a hefty deal during camp leaving Boston in a spot where it will be playing with fire for the remainder of this year.

Over the years, Pastrnak has always said the right things when it comes to wanting to remain in this market and not viewing a pay stub as the be-all, end-all when it comes to his priorities.

But Pastrnak and his reps are also well-aware that settling for, say, an identical deal to the one that McAvoy signed last year is selling himself short, especially now that he’s stuffing the stat sheet night in and night out.

"You're right — the salary cap is a dynamic in any of these equations that we're trying to put together,” Sweeney said earlier this fall. “I don't think there's much of a comparison 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. David's a young player and in the prime of his career. 

“I think when Patrice and David Krejci signed their contracts, they were market-value deals, and I expect us to approach the same, not unlike all of our other players, whether it's Charlie McAvoy or anybody else. Everybody has, whether you've got arb rights, UFA rights, RFA rights, all the things that fall in line and I think we've been pretty consistent of trying to put marketplace deals.”

And while there has not been any indication that the Bruins have been low-balling Pastrnak in the same way that the Sox did with Bogaerts during spring training, the Bruins have to be kicking themselves that no deal was struck before Pastrnak put himself on pace for a 60-goal, 117-point season in 2022-23. 

Yes, a double-digit annual payout for Pastrnak seemed inevitable as soon as camp opened this fall. But given Pastrnak’s production and the panache he provides to a team, the Bruins might have to start looking at the $11.5 - $12 million range when it comes to getting him to sign on the dotted line moving forward.

Of course, maybe the Bruins are just resigned to the fact that Pastrnak will entertain offers as a UFA this summer, with Boston standing resolute in the fact that they can match just about any offer tossed out on the market.

But as evidenced by the Red Sox falling WELL short of San Diego’s mega-deal this week, even the most optimistic musings and established offseason strategies can crumble in a hurry once a desperate team with deep pockets jumps into the fray.

Yes, the Bruins have the inside edge with Pastrnak due to his familiarity with this market. But what happens when a surging, young team like the New Jersey Devils — flush with $35 million in cap space this summer — hands him a deal averaging over $13 million a year? 

It’d be tough to turn such a deal down, especially if those eight years in Newark will be spent alongside a young franchise center like Jack Hughes.

Perhaps such a scenario is just fear-mongering on my end. 

But the Red Sox’ fumbling of Bogaerts and that absurd offer from the Padres shows firsthand the risk that a team embraces when it comes to letting a volatile free-agent market dictate the course of your franchise. 

The Bruins, unlike the Red Sox, still have time to knock over Pastrnak and the rest of his party with a sizable offer before the rest of the league can start bidding. 

But the clock is ticking — and the price is only going to continue to go up.

OTHER NOTES

It’s been over a decade since the Bruins bested Vancouver en route to their sixth Stanley Cup — but the disdain that the B’s still have for that Canucks team sure hasn’t waned over time.

But beyond the actions of players like Aaron Rome, Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler and Maxim Lapierre over the course of that seven-game bout, it sure seems like Vancouver’s air of arrogance as Presidents’ Trophy winners already made plenty of enemies on the opposite bench. 

Speaking on the "Games with Names" podcast with Julian Edelman and Sam Morril, Zdeno Chara said that Vancouver was practicing how they would lift the Cup and the order in which they would hand off hockey’s top prize on the TD Garden ice — leaving the Eastern Conference champs rather … ornery. 

"After losing two games in Vancouver, we saw players from Vancouver coming on the ice in the Garden, and they were actually practicing how they would be lifting the Cup and handing off the Cup to each other," Chara said. "And we found out about these things and we were like 'f--k this, we are not going to allow this to happen.' It just fueled us."

Of course, former Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa denied Chara’s allegations shortly thereafter. Sure doesn’t seem like there will be any easing of tensions between these two teams in the near future. 

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Quite the sight in Pittsburgh, with star defenseman Kris Letang returning to the Penguins’ lineup just 12 days after suffering a stroke — his second in the last eight years.