B’s act really gets old
Pastrnak’s youth works against him
The Bruins are starting to look like the University of Kentucky basketball program: Talented young players come and go in the blink of an eye, honing their skills and then moving on to bigger and better things.
For the Kentucky basketball players, “bigger and better things” means the National Basketball Association.
For the Bruins, it’s every other team in the National Hockey League.
The latest young, talented Bruin who may or may not be playing elsewhere next season — depending on whose tweets you’re reading — is right winger David Pastrnak. The 21-year-old had a sterling 2016-17 season, scoring 34 goals, but it’s the offseason that should worry B’s fans.
As always, it comes down to money. Pastrnak wants more of it. The Bruins, alas, are like the short-armed alligator in the Geico commercial.
The two sides haven’t been able to work out a new deal, leading to speculation Pastrnak could soon be past tense.
My mission today isn’t to break down the B’s depth chart, or give you a Popsicle headache with long, boring lectures about budgets and salary caps. Instead, I’ll simply pose a question: Doesn’t anybody grow old in a Bruins jersey any more?
Put another way, in 30 or 40 years, when aging Bruins alums are dusted off and asked to drop a ceremonial puck, or speak at a charity event or appear with 100-year-old Dale Arnold (still going strong thanks to Awaken 180 Weightloss!) on the NESN pregame program, will there actually be any aging Bruins in our midst?
Yes, it’s looking more and more like Patrice Bergeron is going to be a Bruin for life, even if, at the end of his playing career, he pulls a Raymond Bourque and does a cameo with another team. But no sweat: The B’s could have him sign the symbolic one-day contract, as Vince Wilfork did last week with the Patriots, and we’d all have a group hug.
I’m not suggesting the Bruins are totally anonymous. David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask have been around long enough to know where the cool places are. But the point remains: If you’re a very talented, very young member of the Boston Bruins, don’t buy that hip Charlestown condo until you have an idea if you’re going to be around for a while.
What do Phil Kessel, Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton have in common? They’re all former first-round picks who played exactly three seasons with the Bruins and then were traded. Why they were traded — didn’t fit in with the system, too much partying, didn’t play nice with the other kids, Bruins didn’t want to pony up, etc. — isn’t important. Not for this discussion, anyway. What matters is that they all came to Boston, showed some promise, and then were shown the door.
And now look where we are: David Pastrnak is a former first-round draft Bruins draft pick who has completed his three seasons at the rock pile of the not-heavily-compensated. Now it’s his turn to want more dough. It may also mean it’s his turn to get traded, though the Bruins are saying that won’t be the case.
While reading about Pastrnak yesterday, I was reminded that just one night earlier I was at Fenway Park, watching rookie Rafael Devers bring life to an otherwise snoozefest of a game with two home runs. Devers is just 20 years old, and he’s been in the big leagues for less time than has elapsed since my car’s last trip through the car wash.
And Devers is the latest of a growing cast of young Red Sox players I’d be very pleased to watch play for the next 10 years. There’s nothing quite like seeing Jackie Bradley Jr. make those dazzling catches. Mookie Betts is kneeling the on-deck circle of superstardom. I believe Xander Bogaerts will get his health back and figure things out.
My point: The baseball connoisseur in me wants to write about talented young players as they grow and blossom and mature. I’ll happily rip them to shreds when they screw up, but great athletes make for great stories. Keep ’em coming.
Look, I get it: It’s the 21st century. Players come, players go. But I still found myself missing Phil Kessel a few years ago when, during a playoff game at the Garden, the then-Toronto Maple Leaf picked up a loose puck behind his own net and proceeded to go coastto-coast with Orr-like precision. (Settle down: I’m not putting Kessel in the same class as the sainted No. 4; I’m just saying it was an Orr-like play.)
Kessel is a grizzled guy. He looks like he played with the great Johnny Bower on the ’58-59 Maple Leafs. Incredibly, he’s still just 29 years old. But he’s been so long an ex-Bruin that only a handful of his ex-teammates remain in the Boston dressing room.
As the Bruins determine whether Pastrnak’s playing skills make him worthy of a long-term deal for, say, $6 million per, they should also be determining what the kid’s name is worth.
We can agree Patrice Bergeron will be a Bruin for life. But he won’t be playing for life.
The Bruins should consider growing some veterans.