Despite all the changes around him, Boston Bruins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/boston-bruins] superstar David Pastrnak remains the face of the franchise. Even with all the departures from last season’s trade deadline, the Bruins' right winger finished top five in goals and tied for third in points. This leads to the question: Can Pastrnak win a Hart Trophy or a Rocket Richard Trophy with this Boston team? The Bruins are in the midst of a retool after a huge drop-off last season. At the 2025 trade deadline, GM Don Sweeney made some bold moves that saw the departures of veteran roster players such as Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle and more. Who will be the new captain of the Boston Bruins? As a result of these moves, Boston finished the season in 28th place, earning the seventh pick in the 2025 draft, where they selected center James Hagens. While it may seem like a longshot for Pastrnak to play his way to a Rocket Richard Trophy or a Hart Trophy, he proved that he could be in the conversation last year. The Hart Trophy is awarded to the MVP of the league, or in other words, "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." This means Pastrnak doesn’t necessarily have to win the Art Ross Trophy to be considered for the award. Take Taylor Hall’s Hart-winning season in 2017-18 as an example. Hall scored a career-high 39 goals and 93 points that year. However, despite winning the Hart Trophy, he was not among the top five in goals or points. What won him that award was the fact that he played a significant role in getting the New Jersey Devils [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils] to the playoffs for the first time in six years. It’s also worth mentioning that the Devils finished 28-40-14 the season before that, making Hall’s production look even more impressive. To conclude the 2024-25 campaign, Pastrnak scored 43 goals and recorded 106 points. He had 49 more points than Bruins center Morgan Geekie, who had the second-most points on the team. Even though the Bruins were nowhere near making the post-season, Pastrnak’s production could drag Boston into the fight next season. If the Bruins did make the 2026 playoffs, it’s very likely that the Czech native makes himself a finalist for the Hart Trophy. Sportsbook BetMGM [https://www.on.betmgm.ca/en/sports/hockey-12/betting/usa-9/nhl-34] has Pastrnak to win the Hart Trophy at 29.00 odds (+2800), which is seventh best on the list. As for the Rocket Richard Trophy, it’s not completely out of the question for Pastrnak to win that award either. He won the Rocket Richard before in 2019-20, sharing the award with Alexander Ovechkin as they both tallied 48 goals. David Pastrnak (Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/cbe68e7d-c2fc-4792-a235-5ac9c62dfe2e.jpeg] David Pastrnak (Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images) It’s fair to say that the Bruins were a completely different team than they are now, but Pastrnak can create chances for himself with his talent. And with that, he’s still surrounded by respectable NHL forwards. Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha and Geekie are all players who have recorded well over 50 points in their respective careers. They would have to have some sort of contribution if Pastrnak were to win his second Rocket Richard Trophy. According to BetMGM, Pastrnak has the fourth-best odds to finish the regular season with the most goals at 14.00 (+1300). Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com. Link to The Roar [https://sports.betmgm.ca/en/blog/league/nhl/?utm_source=thehockeynews&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nhl_blog_page](BetMGM's editorial site): https://sports.betmgm.ca/en/blog/league/nhl/?utm_source=thehockeynews&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nhl_blog_page [https://sports.betmgm.ca/en/blog/league/nhl/?utm_source=thehockeynews&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nhl_blog_page] Link to BetMGM's sportsbook [https://betmgmsporton.onelink.me/otUl/4rkbpwij]: https://betmgmsporton.onelink.me/otUl/4rkbpwij
