Marat Khusnutdinov and the Boston Bruins are closing in on a contract extension, according to Kevin Weekes on Tuesday afternoon.
The timing is hard to ignore. Boston drops the puck in Dallas tonight riding a five-game win streak, and the 24-year-old forward has been a quiet part of that run.
He carries a $925,000 cap hit. For that price, the Bruins are getting a forward who sits at plus-7 through nine games.
Only two Boston skaters rank higher in that column, and both play the blue line. Hampus Lindholm and William Borgen are each plus-9.
The offense has started to show up, too. Both of Khusnutdinov's goals this season have come in his last five games, and one held up as a game-winner.
Is anyone mistaking five points in nine games for a scoring breakout? Nobody serious, but cheap forwards who tilt the ice at even strength don't stay cheap forever.
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Don Sweeney gets ahead of the market with a cheap depth bet
Here's where Don Sweeney deserves credit. Locking up a useful forward before the numbers jump is like buying a house the week before the city announces a new subway stop.
The terms haven't surfaced, and neither has the length. Until they do, the read is simple: Boston wants cost certainty on a forward who has dressed for all nine games under Marco Sturm.
That reliability carries extra weight right now. Pavel Zacha is listed day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and a forward Weekes described as versatile is exactly the kind of body a coach wants in reserve.
The Bruins sit first in their division at 7-2-0. Their +15 goal differential through nine games says the depth is doing more than holding the fort.
David Pastrnak leads the team with 12 points. But Fraser Minten, another forward earning under $1 million, has eight, and he matches the 24-year-old at plus-7.
Two bargain forwards outperforming their deals is every cap manager's dream. Keeping both of them cheap for multiple seasons is the much harder trick.
Dallas won't make tonight easy. The Stars come in at 4-3-1 and have won two straight, including a 4-0 shutout in Chicago on Saturday.
It's also the first meeting between these teams this season, the opener of a stretch that brings Boston back home Thursday against Nashville.
And there's the catch for Sweeney. Sign now, and Boston bets the early plus-minus is real.
Wait, and a hot November could make the next phone call a lot more expensive.
Should the Bruins hand Marat Khusnutdinov a multi-year deal before he heats up?
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