The Bruins remain in a bit of a holding pattern when it comes to some key contracts. Namely, an impending extension for David Pastrnak, and how they plan to fit other important players under the cap.
The sense around Causeway St. is that the Bruins will eventually agree to an extension for Pastrnak, with an average annual value in the range of $9.5 million – the same number as his teammate, defenseman Charlie McAvoy. And from there, the other pieces should be able to fall into place.
As the Sports Hub’s own Ty Anderson explained to me in the newest episode of the Sports Hub Underground podcast, which you can listen to above, the Bruins prefer to get these contracts done in a certain order, starting with Pastrnak then following up with deals to bring back both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. In the simplest terms, they want to get Pastrnak done first, then figure out how much they can safely spend on the others.
But the actual process is more complicated than that, and ostensibly the reason why it’s taking a while for the dominoes to fall. In addition to the aforementioned trio, the Bruins have an arbitration hearing with the recently acquired Pavel Zacha set for Aug. 11.
May 6, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) celebrates his power play goal with Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce (22) behind him during the second period in game three of the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Pastrnak is signed for 2022-23, so an extension wouldn’t kick in until 2023-24. But they’re only looking at about $4.7 million of cap space as it stands now, according to CapFriendly. And at the same time, Ty believes that the Bruins are “reluctant” to trade anyone off the main roster right now, particularly on defense, due to their injury situation. They will be without McAvoy, Brad Marchand, and Matt Grzelcyk for extended time to begin the 2022-23 season.
However, Bergeron and Krejci should still be doable. They could sign for incentive-laden deals that would max out just under $11 million, and the Bruins could stay under the overage maximum. That wouldn’t be ideal, because that money would come off their cap in 2023-24. But an in-season salary-dump trade would give them relief. And with Zacha expected to sign for more than $3 million in arbitration, they may need to place someone on long-term injured reserve to push the cap problems down the road, anyway.
Maybe your head hurts now?
Aug 19, 2020; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins center David Krejci (46) and center Patrice Bergeron (37) celebrate the 2-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes following game five of the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
“I think if the Bruins do make a trade in-season to alleviate some bonus overage issues next summer, I think they want to wait until they’re fully healthy,” Ty said. “So right now it’s just like, you know, you’re kind of crunching all the numbers you can, every variable you’re factoring in here, like ‘How can we make this work to the best advantage for us?’ So I think that’s the holdup.
“But I do think they want to get Pastrnak taken care of first – or have a rough idea, as to what he would cost – to be taken care of before bringing back Bergeron and Krejci.”
This is all a long way of saying, the Bruins do have an ideal plan in mind to bring back Pastrnak, Bergeron, and Krejci. It’s just a convoluted path ahead of them. But it would explain the delay.
Listen above for the full episode of the latest Sports Hub Underground, which also includes Patriots training camp talk and reactions to the blockbuster Matthew Tkachuck trade.
