What’s holding up the Pastrnak deal?

After a breakout season in which he scored 34 goals and 70 points in 75 games, Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak set himself up for a handsome raise this offseason. Yet, here we sit fully one week into August and Pastrnak remains without a contract for 2017-18 and beyond. What gives?

Both the player and the team have been negotiating a new deal for over a calendar month, but according to reports they’re no closer to an agreement than they were earlier this summer. This begs the question, what’s a fair deal for the 21-year-old former first round pick? Early reports indicated that Pastrnak was seeking a long-term deal in the $6 million annual range, which would be a whopping raise on the $925,000 he has earned annually the past three seasons.

The Bruins, obviously, would prefer to pay less, but would also be smart to lock up Pastrnak longterm. Comparable deals throughout the NHL might be Brandon Saad’s and Filip Forsberg’s identical six year, $36 million deals. Or, how about Mark Scheifele’s eight year, $49 million deal? If the Bruins want to eat up additional free-agency years, they’ll likely need to pony up more than $6 million per season.

Whatever the dollars and term end up being on Pastrnak’s new deal, it’s obvious that the Bruins need him in the lineup. They can hardly afford to lose his production next season if they expect to make a return to the Stanley Cup playoffs.