Fraser Minten’s next contract is starting to feel like one of those Bruins decisions that could say a lot about where the organization thinks it’s headed.
The 22-year-old center has already checked a lot of boxes. He played all 82 games in his first full NHL season, finished with 17 goals and 35 points, and earned more responsibility as the year went on.
By the end of the season, he had climbed into work as the No. 1 center and a power-play option after showing he could handle the defensive side of the game with real maturity. He then carried that momentum into the World Championships, where he was an offensively capable bottom-6 center on a Team Canada roster loaded with veteran NHL star-types.
That kind of rise is exactly why Don Sweeney singled Minten out as one of the young players the Bruins want to keep around for the long haul, along with Marat Khusnutdinov.
“I've said all along we have to forecast, and my discussions now turn to whether or not Fraser [Minten] is ready for his extension, whether or not Khusy [Marat Khusnutdinov] is ready for an extension, [Pavel] Zacha … so we have to forecast to that degree,” said Sweeney back on July 1. “That's what we're trying to do in balancing and building the best team we possibly can for today, moving forward.
“At the end of the day, timing is everything. A deal comes when the player is happy and the agent says this is a good deal, but we've been adamant that we're going to have the conversations and hopefully we do get to that point [where extensions are happening].”
Minten, for his part, sounds like a player who understands exactly what kind of climb he’s still on. He’s not talking like someone who thinks he’s arrived. He’s talking like someone intent on staying hungry.
“You want to continue to establish what you are as a hockey player, but, that [growth] mindset, I don't think you should lose. I think that's one thing that goes south for guys, so try to keep that hungry mindset and keep trying to establish myself as well,” said Minten.
“[Being a frontline center] is big minutes for everybody that's in there. Those guys [Pavel Zacha] [Elias Lindholm] are [on the] power play and on penalty kill, and if those players don't play well, it's usually a loss.
You see how integral all those pieces are to winning teams and I’m trying to learn from them and watch them and want to be one of those guys myself [in the future].”
The money question is where things get interesting. Minten is on an entry-level deal that pays him $879,166 this coming season, but that number is obviously not going to stay anywhere near that level if Boston moves quickly on an extension. Around the league, young players are landing huge deals as the rising salary cap keeps pushing salaries upward, and that has led to plenty of speculation about what Minten could command.
Some in the media have floated a number as high as $7 million on a long-term deal if the Bruins were to lock him up for an eight-year max contract before those disappear under the new CBA taking effect in mid-September. That kind of figure might be in play if Minten lands a max-term extension in the $6-7 million AAV range, but recent contracts around the league have also given a clearer sense of where the market may actually be headed.
One of those deals came Friday, when Collin Graf re-signed with the San Jose Sharks on a three-year contract worth $4.25 million per season. Graf, 23, just posted 21 goals and 46 points in 81 games for San Jose. He’s an undrafted Quinnipiac product who signed with the Sharks as a free agent, and he plays right wing rather than center.
Still, the comparison matters because of age, service time and the kind of production both players are bringing to the table. Graf’s new deal offers a useful marker as the Bruins weigh what Minten and Khusnutdinov might be worth when the time comes.