The Boston Bruins, at least recently, have had a knack for saying farewell to young talent.
Dougie Hamilton was shipped to Calgary in 2015 with the Bruins tight against the salary cap. And Tyler Seguin's departure two years earlier probably still haunts some B's fans. Both players came to Boston as draft picks via the trade of 21-year-old Phil Kessel in September 2009.
Another axing of internal promise could be on the way, too, if former NHL general manager Brian Lawton is correct in his speculation.
Now an analyst for NHL Network, Lawton raised some eyebrows this week by saying on Twitter he "would not be surprised" if the Bruins trade 21-year-old winger and 30-goal scorer David Pastrnak as a result of contract issues.
Lawton misspelled Pastrnak as "Pasternak," but everyone knows he's talking about Boston's big-name restricted free agent.
Some, like CSN New England's Joe Haggerty, have already rushed to downplay the possibility of a Pastrnak trade. But speculation will assuredly swirl as long as the young forward remains unsigned just months after wrapping up a 34-goal, 70-point season for the Bruins.
Boston general manager Don Sweeney went on record at the start of August to say the Bruins and Pastrnak were "in a holding pattern" in discussions about a new contract. It was a stark shift from early in the offseason, when Haggerty said the two sides might very well have been close on something like a six-year, $36 million extension. And now, Haggerty notes, in the wake of big-money deals for Connor McDavid and other young stars this summer, Pastrnak could be eyeing as much as $7.5 million per season, a figure that "could boost him past veteran leaders like [Brad] Marchand and Patrice Bergeron in terms of salary."