As the conference finals wrap up this week and the Stanley Cup Final starting early next week – with the Nashville Predators clinching the first of two spots – the NHL’s off-season is getting that much closer. From the Expansion Draft to the Entry Draft and free agency frenzy, GMs around the league, including Don Sweeney, are starting to plan ahead for the upcoming season.

First things first for Sweeney, however, are a few housekeeping items that include decisions on pending restricted and unrestricted free agents. The top pending free agent is David Pastrnak, who will be looking for a nice raise following a career season during the final year of his entry-level contract.

Though negotiations will take place, it’s clear that Pastrnak wants to stay in Boston and that Sweeney wants to have the 2014 first round pick as a core member of the Bruins for years to come. In this instance, both Pastrnak and Sweeney are in a good position to get a deal done.

At the age of 20, Pastrnak is in a good spot for a raise. The question is whether or not he’ll get a bridge deal, or sign a longer-term contract similar to Brad Marchand’s eight-year extension that he inked in the fall.

With that in mind, let’s break down the bridge deal vs. long-term contract argument for Pastrnak’s inevitable payday.

A bridge contract that would keep his RFA status before his next contract

Bridge contracts are sometimes tricky and don’t necessarily pan out in the end.

From P.K. Subban (during his time in Montreal) to Erik Karlsson, the bridge deal is not out of the ordinary in today’s National Hockey League. Per the CBA, a player can declare himself an unrestricted free agent if he is over the age of 27 or has played a minimum of seven years in the National Hockey League.

Having completed his third season with the Bruins, the soon to be 21-year-old Pastrnak can become a UFA in the 2020-21 season if Sweeney were to sign him to a shorter-term deal. That would be a pretty big risk if he were to go less than four years in and of itself – similar to what Lightning GM Steve Yzerman did when signing Nikita Kucherov to a three-year bridge deal worth $4.7 million in the offseason.

Kucherov’s production has gone up every year he’s been in the NHL. This year, he posted career highs in every major statistical offensive category: goals (40), assists (45), points (85), power play goals (17), power play points (32), game winning goals (7), shots (246) and shooting percentage (16.7 percent). Pastrnak has a similar trajectory in terms of increased scoring production, but tallied four more points in the final year of his entry-level contract with 70 points (34 goals, 36 assists), compared to Kucherov’s 66 points (30 goals, 36 assists) in 2015-16.

Even with a bridge deal, Pastrnak would probably be looking for more in dollars in cents than Kucherov’s salary, which is north of $4.7 million. Anywhere between $5 and $6 million is a good starting point for a shorter-term contract. Which takes us to the next argument.

A longer-term deal solidifies his spot as a core Bruin for years to come

In the case of the aforementioned argument, a bridge deal can do some good if GMs think they still need some time to evaluate a player’s full potential after his entry-level contract expires. In Pastrnak’s case, however, a contract beyond 3-4 years may be the route to go for Sweeney.

It seems that both Pastrnak and Sweeney would prefer to get a long-term deal done as reported by DJ Bean of CSNNE.com back in March.

In the next few weeks, the salary cap for the 2017-18 season will be set. This year’s salary cap was north of $73 million. It’s projected that there won’t be much of a raise to the cap from this year.

There’s good news for Pastrnak in this regard as well as teams are tending more towards locking up players for longer terms after their entry level contracts expire. From Vladimir Tarasenko (8-year, $60 million) to Filip Forsberg (6-year, $36 million) and the dynamic Flames duo of Johnny Gaudreau (6-year, $40 million) and Sean Monahan (7-year, $44.625 million), the Bruins and Pastrnak know that some GM’s are trending towards lengthier deals over the bridge contracts.

Sure, there’s still some areas that Pastrnak can improve on, especially when it comes to playoff performance and being a good three-zone player. As he matures, his game should become more well-rounded.

The Bruins are on their way up after returning to the playoffs in 2016-17. Locking up Pastrnak to a lengthy deal can only improve their long-term outlook.