Grade The Players: David Pastrnak, Richard winner.

Player Grade: A

David Pastrnak is a special player.

The Boston Bruins have usually been pegged for solid defense, physicality, and goaltending acumen for decades, but one of the team’s most underrated skills is finding players that simply electrify fans. The B’s have gone quite a long time since they’ve been able to successfully boast about a player who’s known for their offense rather than their defense, but after several seasons of only ever increasing promise, the surefire steal of the 2014 NHL Draft gave us a downright legendary season where it seemed like, for a minute, there was a chance he just wouldn’t stop scoring.

His skating. His puck-handling. His shot. His fearlessness. Even his most infuriating trait of selflessness to help his buddies Patrice and Brad get points all coalesced into a player that was a nightmare to try and defend. Coalescing into a season that turned the left circle in the opponent’s end into a staging center for an artillery shelling. That, in all likelihood, is going to be the single most important player to Boston’s power play from this season onward in ways not seen since Marc Savard played in Black and Gold. That became a superstar with that combo of flashy play and goofy charm with that big winner’s smile of his. That player about to become one of the most decorated Czechs by his own country if he keeps his pace up. Hell, on some nights, it seemed like Pastrnak was the only player doing anything marginally dangerous.

While by no means the complete player, or even the best winger on his line, David Pastrnak’s contributions on offense have turned him into a sensation the likes of which few can deny. And while many very “smooth of brain” taeks about his playoff performance are beginning to creep into his narrative, it must be said that a player that has 53 points in 52 NHL Playoff games must be doing something right, even as the last couple of trips to the playoffs have all but confirmed teams are stapling their best defenders to the B’s first line practically every shift, and he’s still coming away looking like a damn good player.

Boston fans should be glad they get to see this young man’s legend unfurl before them every night in Black and Gold. Hell, with his offseason surgery, we’re going to learn just how much we miss him for the first couple of weeks of the season, whenever that happens. And then he’ll come back, and we’ll get to re-live the fun of Pasta hockey all over again.

I for one, can’t wait. But until then, I will simply enjoy Pasta’s burgeoning career as broadcaster.

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