David Pastrnak unexpectedly lands on trade block as feud with GM is leaked.

As the Boston Bruins enter a busy offseason, their main goal remains to re-sign star forward David Pastrnark. But more and more, there is a feeling that the desire to re-sign might turn into the need to trade him.

Pastrnark, who has one year left on his contract with a $6.6 million cap hit, could indeed be used as a chip to recoup assets in a larger rebuild.

The story was brought forth by The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa who revealed how Pastrnark isn’t a fan of general manager Don Sweeney. And though this report comes out days after the unexpected firing of head coach Bruce Cassidy, this has to do with how he treated former free agents in the past.

“88 had seen how Don has treated his two best friends [Torey Krug and David Krejci],” a source close to Pastrnak wrote in a text. “No chance he comes back with Sweens as GM.”

This might come as a surprise to some fans. After all, Pastrnark has not shown any desire to leave Boston, the only NHL team he’s ever known since he was draft back in 2014. On top of that, he went viral last week in a video in which he attempted to active recruit Krejci back to the Bruins.

A lot has changed in Boston in a small amount of time, not only Cassidy’s departure, but you need to add to it the indecision from team captain Patrice Bergeron about his future, and the long absences due to injuries of Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy.

Sweeney acknowledged that the team technically can’t discuss a contract extension with Pastrnak until the league calendar flips to next season. One agent believed an eight-year, $68 million deal would be fair for both parties.

Shinzawa reports that if Pastrnak makes it clear that he does not intend to sign an extension this summer, then therefore putting the Bruins in a position to trade him away before the start of next season.

“All of this may discourage Pastrnak from putting pen to paper, at least until he gets a better read on the Bruins’ long-term health,” Shinzawa writes. “If the Bruins sense any hesitation on Pastrnak’s part to re-sign, their only alternative will be to trade their 2014 first-rounder. They cannot afford to let Pastrnak skate for nothing.”

Pastrnark could continue to develop as the Bruins’ superstar, he who is coming off the second 40-goal season of his career. But he could also seek to make as much money as he can in free agency next summer.

So - what do you do if you’re GM Sweeney? Well, according to Shinzawa’s source, that might be the reason why Pasta does not re-sign in Boston to begin with…

UPDATE: The report got a lot of attention and Pastrnark' agent, JP Barry, felt the need to deny it on Wednesday with this statement: 

“I spoke with Don and David this morning and we don’t know where this report emanated from. We both have a solid relationship with Don and the plan hasn’t changed one bit. We will sit down in July and begin extension negotiations.”

Let's see what happens next...