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King David - Feb. 10, 2020 - By Ryan Kennedy
To see David Pastrnak in his element is to see a young man having a lot of fun right now. The tattooed Boston Bruins right winger had an infectious confidence as he bounced around NHL all-star weekend in St. Louis, captaining Team Atlantic to MVP honors and joking with reporters after the Shooting Stars skills event that he was a bad pro because he didn’t build himself a 30-foot platform to practise on at home beforehand.
This is just the beginning for Pastrnak. This is the year he became a serious threat for both the Art Ross and Rocket Richard Trophies.
How did the 23-year-old get to this point? Certainly his situation in Boston has helped, once he joined future Hall of Fame center Patrice Bergeron and the devilishly talented Brad Marchand on the Bruins’ top line – but you have to be good to play with good players. The first big leap came in 2016-17, when the third-year pro broke out for 70 points after just 26 as a sophomore. “I got settled in and more confident,” Pastrnak said. “I got a great set of linemates who helped me out and taught me. There’s probably a million things that (depend) on each other, and I started believing in myself, that I could be a good player in this league, better than good.”
The second leap is happening right now, as Pastrnak had 70 points by the all-star break. The Bruins have been a top-end team for years now, but they shot out of the gate this season while Tampa Bay stumbled, creating a surprising result in the Atlantic standings for much of the first half. Now the Lightning are coming on, and the Bruins need to fend them off. While more secondary scoring would behoove the B’s, riding the wave of Apex Pastrnak isn’t a bad idea, either. And his coach knows this production didn’t simply spring out of the ether. “There’s a couple of things,” said Bruce Cassidy. “First is the development of his shot. His one-timer has improved so much over the past few years. Then, it’s his strength on the puck, that’s just natural physical maturing. You hope kids that come in at 19 or 20 are stronger at 23, and he has invested in himself in that area. He’s a hardworking guy off the ice in the gym. And then there’s confidence. He’s playing with good players, and he complements those players. You put those three things together, and it’s really worked out for David.”
Opportunity helps, too. Talk to Pastrnak about his career and you can feel the excitement in his voice when he speaks of his setup in the NHL. For a kid who grew up in the Czech Republic (before playing his pre-NHL days in Sweden with Sodertalje), it’s basically a buffet to feast on. All the ice time in the world has allowed him to develop a deadly release on his shot. “You go out there and try to get better before practice or after,” he said. “In the NHL, one great point is that you have the ice for yourself pretty much every day. After practice you can stay as long as you want. Before practice you can go as early as you want. It’s amazing. Growing up as a kid in Czech, you would have ice from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. You had to be there exactly at 11 and get off right at 12. So this is fun. Shooting pucks and scoring goals is fun.”
That exuberant attitude is hard to miss, too. “He’s a passionate guy, and he loves hockey more than anything,” Cassidy said. “He loves being at the rink every day, so he can’t help but get better when he’s in that environment.”
These developments are not so fun for opponents, however. Even the best in the league have a difficult time picking up Pastrnak in the offensive zone because he’s unpredictable and elusive before he unloads a clapper. “Probably one of the best one-timers in the league, so that’s a big challenge,” said Tampa Bay goalie and reigning Vezina Trophy-winner Andrei Vasilevskiy. “His shot is unbelievable, and he tries to shoot from everywhere. He’s so fast that sometimes I don’t have time to get in position. It’s a big advantage for him and a challenge for me.”
"I’d like to see him get to 50. It's a good number, a good accomplishment." – Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
If there was one spot on the ice where defenders could try to track Pastrnak, it would be just above the right faceoff dot, as if Alex Ovechkin decided to take a stride or two in from his office. But Pastrnak will also pop up pretty much anywhere around the net, and with Bergeron’s vision, finding Pastrnak open is rarely a problem. What makes Pastrnak even more vexing is he’s always been a two-way player, and he’s not done learning there, either. Thank his linemates for that. “If you look at us, we’re all totally different players, and we came together with great chemistry,” Pastrnak said. “We all have a role, and we try to improve our weaknesses. ‘Bergy’ talks to me about defensive plays all the time, so it’s great to have those kind of guys for linemates.”
Admittedly, however, defense is something best practised by Pastrnak during the season. In the summer, he focuses elsewhere. “I work more on weaknesses,” he said. “My main focus every summer is to get faster and stronger. Hockey-wise I’m going to improve through the season, but in the summer I try to get faster and stronger. It’s hard to practise defense in the summer, right? There’s no hitting in a scrimmage.”
So now we consider the ceiling. With 37 goals at the all-star break, Pastrnak was leading the NHL, with Ovechkin and Auston Matthews breathing down his neck. With ‘Ovie’ chasing 700 career goals and beyond, it’s obvious he’s not going to let up, and Pastrnak has great awe for the Washington sniper’s prowess. But Pastrnak could hit his own milestone this season, whether or not he snags the Rocket Richard Trophy. “If he’s scoring, he’s helping the team,” Cassidy said. “I’d like to see him get 50. It’s a good number, a good accomplishment.”
Pastrnak was also just a few points behind Edmonton’s dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the points race, so the Art Ross Trophy is also on the table – especially if the Bruins ride their top line to help fend off Tampa Bay. But Pastrnak won’t get caught up in individual glory right now. “I’m not racing anybody,” he said. “I’m just playing hockey. I’m trying to help my team win, and I don’t care about the outcome of my goals or points. It’s fun to score – that’s what I’m getting paid for, and that’s my biggest strength, being an offensive player – but I’m not focusing on any scoring race.”
Last year, he finished second in team playoff scoring to Marchand with 19 points in 24 games, helping the Bruins come within a win of the Stanley Cup. (Did Blues fans forget this during all-star weekend? No, dear reader, they did not: Pastrnak was constantly booed.) With one more year of growth and experience under his belt, Pastrnak has the profile to be even more prolific in the post-season. And he sure looks like he’s having a lot of fun in the process.
PASTRNAK BY THE NUMBERS
Bruins sniper’s eye-popping totals put him in some elite company
144: Goals since 2016-17, third-most in the NHL behind Ovechkin and Matthews
301: Points since 2016-17, ninth-most in the NHL
59: On-pace goal total for 2019-20, which would be the second-most all-time for a Czech player behind Jagr’s 62 in 1995-96
0.46: Career goals per game, first among Czech players all-time
21/324: Years and days old when he scored six points in a playoff game (vs. Toronto, April 14, 2018), breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record as the youngest player to do so
Bruins: 4 Potential Landing Spots For Pavel Zacha
<a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/boston-bruins">Boston Bruins</a> forward Pavel Zacha continues to create chatter in the rumor mill with August just about here. The 2015 first-round pick has been the subject of trade rumors since leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline, so he is certainly a player to keep an eye on as the summer continues.
Photo Credit: © Peter Casey-Imagn Images