On the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak …
Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald: Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney and the agent (J.P. Barry) for David Pastrnak are expected to hold contract talks today. The Bruins offered Pastrnak a six- or seven-year deal worth $6 million a season earlier this offseason, but there hasn’t been much negotiation since then.
“To be honest with you, we haven’t really gotten a response on what they’re looking for,” Neely said from the Bruins’ Fanfest in Providence. “I know when they talked early on, they had some parameters to work around, some comps that I think both sides felt were fair at that particular time, so an offer was made but there really wasn’t much dialogue after that. So I think it’s kind of pointless for us to negotiate against ourselves.”
Neely added that they are confident a deal will get done, but it has to make sense for them.
When asked about the lack of a counter-offer, Barry said in an email:
“(The Bruins) are aware that the offers to date aren’t where we feel David fits in this marketplace. We plan to discuss an eight-year maximum term to see if we can find more common ground.”
Neely said the sides haven’t talked about a bridge contract yet. A bridge deal would take Pastrnak to arbitration faster but would be for less money and term.
“There hasn’t been any dialogue,” he said. “Early on there was and then an offer was put out there and there hasn’t really been much back and forth for us to say where we’re going to head and what direction we’re going in. Until we really see what they’re thinking and what they’re looking for, then we can start the dialogue.”