David Pastrnak’s next contract will be worth every penny to Bruins 

Pastrnak will likely have plenty more to smile about this summer when he’s due for a new contract. 

It’d be one thing for Pastrnak to put forth a familiar stat line of 40+ goals and 85-90 points in the season before he hits the open market.

But after his four-point showing against Anaheim, Pastrnak is putting himself on a record-setting pace ahead of his payday, with the winger currently projected to tally 66 goals and 119 points over a full 82-game slate.

No Bruin has scored 50 or more goals in a single season since Cam Neely (on one knee, essentially) reached the feat back in 1993-94. Of course, Pastrnak was in line to join Neely with his performance in the 2019-20 season (48 goals in 70 games), only to have his campaign cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But at his current rate, Pastrnak would become just the second Bruin in franchise history to score 60 or more goals in a season (joining Phil Esposito), while his 119 points would be the most accrued by a Bruin since Adam Oates recorded 142 points in 1992-93.

While the Bruins will gladly reap the benefits of unleashing Pastrnak’s scoring salvo against the rest of the NHL, with each tally Pastrnak adds to his resume, the more likely the dynamic forward inks a record-breaking contract in the coming months.

When both Pastrnak and the Bruins first started to engage in contract talks last summer, the hope was that Charlie McAvoy’s current long-term extension with Boston ($9.5 million annual cap hit through 2030) would serve as a familiar framework to whatever deal that Pastrnak and his representatives would sign off on.

But given Pastrnak’s projected 60-goal threshold, it seems like a given that the B’s winger will become just the seventh NHLer to secure a salary cap hit of $11 million or more moving forward.

And given the state of the market and the likelihood of the NHL’s salary-cap ceiling soaring in the coming years, Pastrnak could easily find himself surpassing Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6 million AAV) as the highest-paid player in the league next season — especially if he hits the open market.

It’s a steep price for the Bruins to pay — especially with the team already looking at a fiscal headache next season if both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci hang up their skates this summer. (Along with the $4.5 million in potential bonus overages for both pivots, which will likely fall onto next year’s books.)

But it’s a price that the Bruins will have to meet, especially if they want to build a strong foundation for the post-Bergeron era next to key pieces like McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Linus Ullmark and others.

As much as some might push back against Pastrnak’s potential record-breaking pay raise due to a perceived one-dimensional game — the Czech product’s play this season has shed light on his value to the roster as a whole.

Because for as lethal as Pastrnak’s one-timer might be, he’s far from a one-trick pony in the offensive zone. 

“Elite. Creative. He’s like an artist, the different ways he scores,” head coach Jim Montgomery said of Pastrnak’s game following Sunday’s win over Anaheim. “Everyone talks about the one-timers, but he scores off his front foot, his back foot, backhands, fakes.”

And on Sunday night, Pastrnak turned the frozen sheet at Honda Center into his own personal canvas.

Pastrnak opened the scoring for Boston with his trademark one-timer, but his other two tallies came via a quick wrist shot and a breakaway bid that left a veteran netminder like John Gibson on the ropes.