Recent Signings Bode Well For David Pastrnak’s Next Contract

There are times when things just seem to fall in place for a player.  Bruins winger David Pastrnak is one who has had that happen to him.  His addition to the duo of Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron very quickly created one of the strongest lines in the league for years, helping him become one of the top-scoring wingers in the NHL.  Not too shabby for a late first-round pick, that’s for sure.

But Pastrnak is in line to benefit from things falling into place for a second time.  He’s a year away from unrestricted free agency and is in line for a substantial raise on the $6.67MM AAV he has on his current deal.  How much of an increase that will be remains to be seen but even though there aren’t any games being played right now, it’s certainly trending in an upwards direction.

Just a few months ago, Artemi Panarin’s seven-year contract that carries a cap hit of $11.643MM seemed like an outlier that would be unachievable.  Most of the biggest contracts in the league this coming season are for centers with veteran defensemen and a pair of goalies also up there.  But for the most part, wingers aren’t really in the mix; aside from Panarin, Mitch Marner and Patrick Kane are the only other two wingers in the top-15 in terms of cap hit for next season.

But things have started to change on that front.  Johnny Gaudreau just landed $9.75MM on a seven-year deal from Columbus.  His former teammate Matthew Tkachuk got $9.5MM per season for eight years in a sign-and-trade that saw him join Florida.  Meanwhile, one of the players he was traded for, Jonathan Huberdeau, received a $10.5MM AAV for eight seasons in Calgary.  All of a sudden, instead of it being a rarity that a winger gets a high-end contract, it’s becoming more commonplace.  That’s great news for Pastrnak when it comes to working on his next deal.

Over the past four seasons, only six wingers have recorded more points than the 301 that Pastrnak has put up.  Five of them (Kane, Huberdeau, Panarin, Marner, and Gaudreau) have contracts of at least $9.75MM in value.  If we look in terms of points per game, Pastrnak moves ahead of Gaudreau.  The other is his winger, Marchand, who has three years left on a very team-friendly deal with a $6.125MM AAV.  It’s safe to call that contract the outlier of the bunch, not the one that’s going to be used as a basis for comparison in extension discussions.

With there now being less hesitance to handing out top money to top wingers, things are lining up quite nicely for Pastrnak.  A contract between the ones that Gaudreau and Huberdeau received is a reasonable range and if he has another strong season and makes it to the open market, he could even get a bit more.  If Boston isn’t willing to pay that, someone else certainly will.

A couple of years ago, there was a hesitance to give top wingers comparable money to top centers but that’s certainly no longer the case as evidenced by these recent contracts.  Whether it’s in the coming weeks or months as an extension with Boston or next July in free agency, Pastrnak is certainly poised to benefit from this shift in philosophy with a significant raise soon coming his way.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.