Mat Barzal's extension directly affects David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins
Earlier this morning, forward Mathew Barzal broke the bank by signing an eight-year, $73.2 million contract extension ($9.15 million AAV) with the New York Islanders.
This signing could make things a lot more difficult for Don Sweeney and the Boston Bruins to get the best deal possible for their pending free agent, David Pastrnak.
Barzal, 25, is coming off a season where he put up 15 goals and 44 assists in 79 games during the 2021-22 season. While Pastrnak, 26, recorded 40 goals and 37 assists in 7 fewer games. Throughout his career, Barzal (362 GP) has scored at 0.86 points per game, while Pasta (510 GP) is up around the 0.99 range.
Barzal's best season was his rookie campaign, where he collected 22 goals and 85 points, but since then, it's been a steady downgrade. Pastrnak, on the other hand, has been a consistent 35 to 40-goal scorer since 2017, with a career-high 48 in 2019-20. Along with at least 70 points a season simultaneously (48 points in 48 games during COVID shortened 2020-21 season).
This extension directly affects the Pastrnak negotiations, as the Bruins were hoping to get him at somewhere in between $9 to $10 million AAV.
As per Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub:
''Over $9M per for Barzal. Before camp, I asked Sweeney if all these big-money deals for forwards have reconfigured Pastrnak talks at points. He said, 'there's always goalposts and framing in negotiations.' Pastrnak is probably up over $10.5M per now.''
All in all, depending on what his agent is looking for, Barzal's $9.15 million AAV all but raises whatever Pasta was initially being offered.
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