Bruins’ shooting star David Pastrnak says he’s not worried about contract situation - The Boston Globe
“There’s no rush," said Pastrnak, who can be an unrestricted free agent. "In the middle of the season, you’re focusing on hockey and everything. You don’t really think about the contract situation."
www.bostonglobe.com
SUNRISE, Fla. — After strolling up to his designated interview station in a white suit covered in watercolor blue brushstrokes, David Pastrnak was ready to hear it.
“Shoot,” he said, smiling.
It took two questions before someone mentioned his contract.
The Bruins All-Star right winger, whose six-year, $40 million deal expires after this season, knew that talk was coming. He parried the first attempt, in which someone asked in a roundabout way if he might consider the Bruins’ much-heralded locker-room chemistry when deciding his future.
Before that scene, when asked directly how he felt that his contract situation was still unresolved, Pastrnak said it didn’t matter.
“You know, obviously, I feel fine,” he said. “There’s no rush. In the middle of the season, you’re focusing on hockey and everything. You don’t really think about the contract situation. It’s in the hands of your agent and management and [Bruins general manager] Donnie (Sweeney). I’m just thinking about hockey and playing, honestly. That’s pretty much all I’ve been doing.”
On an episode of his “32 Thought” podcast released Friday morning, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the Bruins and Pastrnak’s agent, J.P. Barry, are “moving towards getting (a deal) done,” and that the Bruins have “bent to Pastrnak.”
“I think we’ll find out that when this one is over, we will find out that David Pastrnak pushed the Boston Bruins in a position they didn’t think they would get to and didn’t want to be in,” Friedman said on the podcast. “What’s the biggest weapon you have in a negotiation? The willingness to say no.
“I think David Pastrnak had a willingness to say, ‘Look, if you guys aren’t willing to do this, it’s going to be a problem.’ I think he pushed the Bruins into an area that maybe they didn’t want to go, and I think it’s going to get done because they recognized it has to get done. That’s my opinion.”
Friedman also mentioned that Boston will not trade Pastrnak. “That’s crazy talk,” he said.
Asked during his Friday media scrum if the negotiation was nearing the finish line, Pastrnak deferred.
“J.P. and Donnie talk every day,” he said. “I actually haven’t talked to J.P. for a while because of the tough schedule we had. Gonna give him a call. And I think he’s here, so we’re going to meet up.
“You know, we’ll see. There’s not much time to think. I was just playing and grinding and now finding a little bit of relax time.”
