2k23 Player Ratings: David Pastrnak put on another legendary performance

David Pastrnak - Winger

Reader Rating: 9.4

Writer Rating: 9.4

David Pastrnak was once again the Legend. I’ll try to keep it short because this, somehow, is the only time beyond Jake DeBrusk that the readers and writers are shaking hands.

In the Regular Season, he was the beating heart of a supercharged offense

I could wax poetic about how David Pastrnak became effectively the engine on which most of the goalscoring was done by the Boston Bruins, how he was neck and neck with Connor McDavid of all people, how he scored on pretty much any kind of goal you can imagine, how the left circle is quickly becoming his prime hunting grounds...but I think the best way to talk about David Pastrnak’s insane year, is to show the 50+ goals he scored this year.

Then, show footage of the last guy to do it.

...and then the last Bruin to get 60.

That was a whole building ago. That was “Games existing on local news stations” ago. That was three entire standards of television broadcast quality and broadcast mediums ago. By my count, it was also around five separate versions of the Bruins sweaters ago. Pastrnak’s 22-23 accounted for 20% of all Boston Bruins goals scored in a year where the Boston Bruins scored more than almost everybody.

He got his 60th goal on the same night he got his 300th career point and his 15th career hat trick.

In very short, he was everything you’d ever hoped he’d end up becoming.

In the Playoffs, he did what he could to keep this going

David Pastrnak scored once in game 1, had a quiet middle of the series, and then when the Bruins were starting to lose control of the series, he had a 2 goal night in Game 6, and another in Game 7 that, for an agonizing amount of time, was the difference between the Bruins and the 2nd round before they completely pissed that away.

Allow me to tell you a little bit about David Pastrnak when he has two goals in a night. When David Pastrnak scores 2+ goals over the last two seasons, the Bruins win-% is overwhelming. Across playoffs and regular season. When he puts two in, it is effectively over and the final game score and team play should reflect that.

He f$!king showed up when it mattered. When it should have mattered. When this idiot team full of dummies started to falter against the Panthers, he tried to drag them over the finish line by the nose. A two goal night from your deadline acquisition and your first 60+ goalscorer in literal decades should absolutely be enough to have sent them off to play the Leafs. An early 3rd period go-ahead goal on a blistering breakout should be enough.

I will never, ever forgive Connor Clifton and Derek Forbort for their play in that Game 6.

Under the hood? Still good!

I really cannot overstate how blessed we are that the Boston Bruins get to keep a guy like Pasta around.

Evolving-Hockey.com

It’s kind of hard to summarize Pastrnak’s 2022-23 without being kind of hyperbolic about it because it’s been a long time since the Boston Bruins have had a player who does the kind of creative things he does to get the puck in the net. Was he helped along by once in a lifetime play by his linemates and teammates? Probably. Does that diminish that he’ll probably stay in the conversation as a top-5 or 10 goalscorer in the league? Absolutely not.

Here’s to many more seasons of terrorizing the league’s SV%, David.

We’re probably gonna need it to stay sane this year.