Don Sweeney has made several shrewd moves as Boston Bruins general manager, and signing David Pastrnak to a six-year, $40 million contract extension in 2017 stands above the rest.
It's become the best contract in the NHL among players who aren't on their rookie deals.
The Bruins exit their bye week Friday with a road game against the Winnipeg Jets, where Pastrnak will try to build on his league-leading goal tally of 37. He also ranks fourth in scoring with 70 points in 51 games. Barring injury, he'll almost certainly become the Bruins' first 50-goal scorer since Cam Neely in 1993-94.
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His advanced stats are stellar, too. The Bruins control puck possession at a high rate with Pastrnak on the ice. They own a plus-123 edge in shot attempts, a plus-63 advantage in shots on goal, a plus-67 lead in scoring chances and a plus-19 tally in goals scored during 5-on-5 play when Pastrnak is on the ice.
In a world where the best young players are getting as much as $9 million, $10 million, $11 million or more per season on their second contracts, Pastrnak is making far less than his counterparts. Pastrnak's contract ranks 74th among all players in salary cap hit at $6.67 million. His cap hit ranks 13th among all right wingers, 15th among players who've scored 20 or more goals and 15th among players with 50-plus points.
Speaking to reporters in November of 2018, Pastrnak had no regrets about the contract he signed.
Here's a look at all the forwards in the top 30 in scoring (as of Wednesday morning) who are 26 years old or younger and not playing on their rookie contracts. You'll notice that only three of the 16 players have a lower cap hit than Pastrnak, including none in the top five.
Boston Bruins
Auston Matthews is a tremendous player for the Toronto Maple Leafs who has scored 30-plus goals in all four of his NHL seasons, but is he really worth more than 1.5 times as much as Pastrnak? No, he certainly isn't. Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl is ultra-talented, but he plays two-thirds of his 5-on-5 minutes alongside Connor McDavid (the best player in the world). Draisaitl's cap hit is almost $2 million more than Pastrnak's. Mitch Marner is a damn good player who tallied a career-high 94 points last season, but he's not $4 million better than Pastrnak.
Pastrnak did not dominate in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, but to be fair, few of Boston's best players showed up in the last four games (of which the St. Louis Blues won three times, including a Game 7 victory in Boston). The star winger also didn't appear to be 100 percent after battling a thumb injury earlier that season. His overall playoff résumé is quite impressive with 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) in 42 postseason games.
There's no doubt Pastrnak's contract has been a huge advantage to the Bruins, but it's not even the best story when it comes to the team's salary structure. Boston's top trio of Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, also known as the "Perfection Line", is signed through 2021-22 at a combined cap hit of $19.6 million (!), which is absurdly good value and should help the team remain a top Stanley Cup contender in the short term.
(Salary information via CapFriendly)