Bruins do the right thing, sign David Pastrnak through 2031

Boston can breathe a sigh of relief.

Moments after making another big splash to acquire Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings for draft picks, the Bruins’ busy morning ramped up when they officially inked David Pastrnak to an eight-year contract extension worth a total of $90 million ($11.25 million per season). 

The winger is now locked up through the end of the 2030-31 season, and the deal carries a full no-movement clause for the first five years before modified trade protection over the last three.

“Obviously a really exciting day for me and my family,” Pastrnak told reporters at Warrior Ice Arena. “I’m very thankful to be part of this organization and sign another extension. It’s been a home for us. We’re really excited as a family to stay here.”

It is the largest contract in franchise history, and the sixth-richest deal in NHL history by total dollar amount. Pastrnak will become the second-highest-paid winger in the league, behind Artemi Panarin ($11.64 million) and ahead of Mitchell Marner ($10.9 million). Aside from Panarin, the only other forwards ahead of him will be Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6 million), Connor McDavid ($12.5 million) and Auston Matthews ($11.64 million). 

This summer, No. 88 will come off what turned out to be one of the most team-friendly deals in the NHL, currently making approximately $6.667 million per season. The pending $11.25 million cap hit already looks to be well worth it. Imagine the offers he would have gotten on the open market. 

Bruins president Cam Neely said, “It was something that was certainly a priority for us. Probably took a little longer than we hoped for, but we finally got across the finish line. … We were getting pretty close the last couple of weeks. I knew we would get something done, and we were hoping to get done sooner rather than later. Fortunately, [Sweeney] and J.P. [Barry] hammered something out last night, and we agreed on a deal.”

It continues to buck the trend of the hometown discounts that Boston has become accustomed to, especially after Charlie McAvoy signed his extension worth $9.5 million annually, but Pastrnak will be deservingly paid like the superstar that he is.

While the need for a new contract was front and center in most minds each time Pastrnak lit the lamp this season, he says he was never worried it would get done. His play this season shows.

“I think I was honest with you guys. I didn’t really worry about it much, especially when I got to the rink,” Pastrnak said. “Obviously at home sometimes you think about it. … I wouldn’t say it affected me on the ice.”

However, Sweeney admitted, “Until a deal is done, you have some anxiety.” 

Pastrnak checks in at second in the league in goals (42) and fourth in points (80) in 60 games during another MVP-caliber year. He leads Boston in every major offensive category: goals, assists (38), points, points per game (1.33), even-strength goals and points (28 and 51) as well as power-play goals and points (14 and 29). His 282 goals are already ninth in franchise history, and he is over a point per game in his career with 584 through 570 games.

This season alone, Pastrnak has completely outpaced his immediate comparables. Panarin has 67 points (19 goals) in 60 games, and Marner has put up 74 points (20 goals) in 60 contests. 

He is well-established as one of the NHL’s brightest stars, reaching the 40-goal mark for the third time in his career in addition to three other seasons in which he hit at least 30. 

Once viewed as one-third of the so-called “Perfection Line” with Bergeron and Brad Marchand, Pastrnak has proven in the last two seasons that he can drive the play as well as anyone, playing on a line with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula last year before teaming up with Pavel Zacha and David Krejci this season. 

He has no shortage of ways to beat goaltenders, whether it’s a blistering one-timer from the flank on the power play, dazzling rushes through opposing defenses, soft hands around the crease or an accurate wrister from mid-range. 

Thanks to the shooting heatmap for 2014 and through 2022 from IcyData Hockey, it’s easy to see that Pastrnak can create chances from anywhere in the offensive zone. Even if his own shots don’t go in, they still create opportunities for his teammates, ranking in the top 20 in expected rebounds created (12.1) in 2020-21 and coming in at ninth (21.8) last season, according to MoneyPuck.com.

Now, here is the heatmap for where Pastrnak’s goals have come from throughout his career. Aside from the point, he can score from anywhere in the attacking end, making a big living around the net, even if the one-timers grab the headlines.

Pastrnak ranks in the top 10 in goals above expected (10.8; Panarin ranks 20th and Marner 24th) and expected goals per 60 minutes (1.57), and he has the second highest goals per 60 (2.12). Panarin and Marner rank outside the top 300 NHL skaters (minimum 400 minutes) in expected goals per 60, and each is outside the top 125 in goals per 60. Pastrnak also leads the league in shots on goal per 60 (14.4) and shot attempts per 60 (26.52).

In transition, the 99th percentile for shots off the rush, 97th percentile for rush offense and 95th percentile for offensive zone entries, per JFresh Hockey.

The 26-year-old is vastly important to the Bruins’ attack and is one of the very best at creating offense for his team, deserving to be in the same conversations as fellow perennial Hart Trophy candidates McDavid, Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl and Nikita Kucherov, among others.

In terms of Boston’s financial flexibility, Pastrnak’s pending $11.25 million AAV will account for 13.47 percent of the projected $83.5 million salary cap next year, assuming it only goes up by $1 million, as expected. The marginal increase next season still puts Boston in a squeeze, but there is a belief, going back to an interview with NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly last August, that the cap could go up significantly after next season, so Pastrnak’s portion of the salary cap would decrease as contracts for others of his ilk likely increase in the coming years.  

"We found a really good landing spot,” Sweeney said. “The pie, as it stands, is only so big, and you got to kind of divvy it up. That's what we have to do. That's the challenge for myself and hockey ops. It will present some challenges, but to David’s credit, he's an elite player in the National Hockey League, and we're just fortunate that he's going to play for us and we found a deal that works.”

He is a franchise cornerstone, whether on the ice or in the eyes of fans, especially when considering the immediate future of the Bruins after this season.

Bergeron and Krejci are on expiring contracts, and what is next for them remains unclear. Marchand is 34 years old. Life after the current core creeps up more and more by the day. Pastrnak is undoubtedly the centerpiece of the next era, along with McAvoy. 

“I’m very confident moving forward,” Pastrnak said. “We’ve been learning from them every day and we are to this day. We know the day [they retire] unfortunately might come, and we’ll make sure we’re ready with it with Charlie and the young core because we had a hell of [group] to show us the way.”

Add in the likes of Marchand, Zacha, Jeremy Swayman, Linus Ullmark, and Hampus Lindholm, and Boston believes it will remain in good shape at the top of the roster.

“That’s certainly the plan with our backend and our goaltending,” Neely said. “We’ll have some work to do up front over the next couple of years. We recognize that, but we should be very competitive.”

Sweeney has also held on to top prospects Fabian Lysell, Mason Lohrei and Georgii Merkulov through the trade deadline madness. 

Even with a promising supporting cast, not having Pastrnak in the fold going forward would have been disastrous for the next wave. Considering Boston's recent checkered history in the draft, it simply wasn't an option. 

Like Bergeron, Krejci and assuredly Marchand, Pastrnak, who said he never visualized playing for another team, has the chance to play his entire career in Boston as the new deal will take him to age 35. 

“It’s huge. Those are the guys I grew up, with pretty much,” Pastrnak said. “It’s an amazing accomplishment to play your career with one team. That’s definitely what was stuck in my head, going into this negotiation. I’m honored and happy that I’m staying here, and I can’t wait to get to work.”

Sweeney said, “Our goal all along was to make him a lifelong Bruin.”