The Boston Bruins have had a busy 24hrs, signing a key piece of their roster to a long term deal, and acquiring another via trade.
Bruins GM Don Sweeney kicked things off Thursday by announcing that the club had come to terms with forward David Pastrnak on an 8yr/$90M contract extension. The new deal will carry an AAV of $11.25M, and will keep the 26 year old in Boston through the 2030-31 season.
The 6’1” winger has spent his entire career with the Bruins, amassing 282 goals, and 302 assists during that span. This season he leads all Boston skaters in points (80), goals (42), assists (38), and power play points (29).
Originally drafted by the Bruins 25th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, the smooth skating Czech has enjoyed success riding shotgun on the team’s “Pasta Line” alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. This season however, the Bruins have moved Pastrnak up and down the lineup to spread out their offense, resulting in him playing a good chunk of games with Taylor Hall whom he’s found immediate chemistry with as well.
But the Bruins front office wasn’t done there, as they also announced the acquisition of former Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi on the eve of the NHL trade deadline.
Bertuzzi, 28, has been limited to just 29 games this season due to injury, and has amassed 14pts (4G, 10A) during that time. The Sudbury, ON native enjoyed his most productive season to date in 2021-22 when he potted 30G and 32A across 68 contests with the Wings.
The newly acquired forward won’t suit up for his new team’s game vs. Buffalo this evening. However, it’s largely expected that when he does don the black and gold, he’ll settle on the team’s 3rd line as power forward who brings plus level scoring to the table.
Heading back the other way is a 2024 1st round (top 10 protected) draft pick, as well as a 2025 4th round selection.
Detroit, 28-24-8, were on the cusp of wildcard contention before a recent 3 game skid gave pause to thoughts of a postseason run. GM Steve Yzerman clearly wasn’t sold on his team being a true contender after back to back drubbings at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, which led to the club becoming sellers over the last few days.
Bertuzzi will now join fellow newcomers Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway as the Bruins look to wrap up the President’s Trophy down the stretch. The next closest team to Boston in the standings is Carolina who currently sit 13pts shy of the Bruins league leading 99pts.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Lisa Gansky. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.