The David Pastrnak holdout is over.
On the day the Bruins opened training camp, a source confirms that the 21-year-old right winger signed a six-year deal that will pay him $40 million, for an average annual value of $6.67 million. The contract puts Pastrnak on the same level as comparable players like Filip Forsberg and Johnny Gaudreau, and also allows him to hit unrestricted free agency at the young age of 27.
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This turns out to be a good deal for the Bruins, as they avoided paying Pastrnak more than either Cup-winning veteran players Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, and slid in underneath the $7 million per season that Pastrnak could have demanded. The Bruins and Pastrnak’s camp both discussed longer deals with seven- and eight-year terms, but couldn’t close the gap on a deal where Boston would have been buying out expensive unrestricted free agent years at the back end of the contract.
Given the numbers for Leon Draisaitl (eight-year contract worth $8.5 million per season) and Vladimir Tarasenko (eight years, $7.5 million per season), the deal has to be considered a good one for general manager Don Sweeney and the Bruins. They were able to pay Pastrnak very close to fair market value, lock him up for a lengthy period, and lose virtually zero time in training camp . That’s good news all around for the B's, who absolutely needed to lock down a player who busted out for 34 goals and 70 points last season and is the kind of speed, skilled, game-breaking force they'll be building around for the next decade.
Pastrnak is expected to fly to Boston on Friday, per a source with knowledge of the situation, and will likely be on the ice with his Bruins teammates by the weekend.
Boston Bruins
TSN's Darren Dreger was the first to report a six-year contract agreement between the Bruins and Pastrnak.
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