The Boston Bruins were already on pace for the best record in NHL history when they added toughness and depth for what they hope will be a long playoff run.
Now general manager Don Sweeney has helped secure the team’s future, too.
Pastrnak, 26, is second in the league this season with 42 goals, adding 38 assists while leading Boston to the best record in the NHL. He has spent all of his nine NHL seasons with the Bruins, totalling 282 goals and 302 assists in his career.
He had been eligible to become a free agent after this season.
Bruins bolster lineup with forward Bertuzzi
The Bruins also added forward Tyler Bertuzzi on Thursday in a deal that will send a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2024 and a fourth-rounder in 2025 to Detroit. The Red Wings are retaining half of Bertuzzi’s salary for the rest of the season.
Bertuzzi, 28, helps fill a gap left by Taylor Hall’s injury. The 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick, who has 16 goals and 20 assists this season, was placed on long-term injured reserve on Thursday, a move that costs the team one of its top forwards but saves $6 million against the salary cap.
Bertuzzi has 14 points in 29 games this season with the Red Wings. He has 88 goals and 114 assists in 305 regular-season games. He has yet to reach the playoffs in the NHL. Forward Nick Foligno was placed on injured reserve. He has 10 goals and 16 assists this season.
Oilers add forward help with Bjugstad
The Edmonton Oilers acquired forward Nick Bjugstad and defenceman Cam Dineen from the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday in exchange for defenceman Michael Kesselring and a 2023 third-round draft pick.
Multiple reports said the Coyotes will retain 50 per cent of Bjugstad’s remaining salary.
Bjugstad, 30, signed with Arizona on a one-year contract ahead of this season. He is on pace for his most productive statistical season since 2018-19, with 13 goals and 10 assists tallied through 59 games. He also has recorded 119 hits.
In 599 career games spent with the Florida Panthers (2012-18), Pittsburgh Penguins (2018-20), Minnesota Wild (2020-22) and Coyotes, Bjugstad has amassed 260 points (123 goals, 137 assists) and 261 penalty minutes.
Dineen, 24, made his NHL debut this season and has seven assists in 34 games. Arizona drafted him in the third round in 2016.
Kesselring, 23, was Edmonton’s sixth-round draft pick in 2018 and he has yet to make his NHL debut. He has 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 49 games this season with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
Columbus flips goaltender Quick to Vegas
Jonathan Quick is on the move again, back to the Pacific Division to solve the Vegas Golden Knights’ latest goaltending quandary.
Vegas acquired Quick from Columbus on Thursday, less than 36 hours after the Los Angeles Kings traded the two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender and 2014 playoff MVP to the Blue Jackets.
Coyotes acquire contract of injured Voracek from CBJ
The Arizona Coyotes acquired the contract of injured forward Jakub Voracek and a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday in exchange for goaltender Jon Gillies.
“This move provides us with some organizational goaltending depth for the remainder of the season and flexibility from a salary cap standpoint to improve our team moving forward,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said.
Voracek, 33, last played in a game on Nov. 4 and may not compete again in the NHL. He announced in December that he would be sidelined long-term with concussion symptoms.
Voracek has six points (one goal, five assists) in 11 games this season. He is in the second season of his second stint with the Blue Jackets, who selected him with the seventh overall pick of the 2007 NHL Draft.
Gillies, 29, has posted a 5-8-2 record with a 3.70 goals-against average and .878 save percentage in 15 games this season with the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League.
He owns a 7-15-3 with a 3.31 GAA and .893 save percentage in 32 career games with the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils.