Boston Bruins Do Not Loan David Pastrnak For World Juniors
Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Boston Bruins Do Not Loan David Pastrnak For World Juniors
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The Boston Bruins have apparently decided not to loan David Pastrnak to the Czech Republic for the World Junior Championship tournament that gets underway on December 26th in Helsinki, Finland. With speculation over the last few days indicating that the young Czech forward might be loaned to his home country to compete at the international level as a glorified conditioning stint, the decision was apparently made to keep Pastrnak in North America. While the decision hasn’t been announced by the club yet, the league-wide roster freeze officially started for the Bruins at the start of December 20th in Eastern Time, so it would appear the Bruins simply let time expire.
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David Pastrnak has been missing from NHL action since October 31st with a fracture in his foot. David Pastrnak was sent down to the AHL on Saturday, and he took part in the Providence Bruins game against the Springfield Falcons. While the Baby Bruins ultimately went on to lose the game, David Pastrnak did record an assist, along with a -1 rating, one shot on net, and two penalty minutes. Pastrnak dominated the AHL level last season, only a few months after being drafted by the Bruins with the 25th overall draft pick in the 2014 NHL draft, scoring 11 goals and adding 17 assists for 28 points in 25 games. His stretch of success in the AHL continued on Saturday, and it is likely that David Pastrnak will remain in the AHL for at least a few more game to continue his conditioning stint.
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After missing nearly seven weeks with his injury, the best situation for David Pastrnak is to simply gain some confidence in his ability by playing at the AHL level for a few games. The Boston Bruins have done a good job in Pastrnak’s absence, so there isn’t any pressure on the young forward to rush his recovery or conditioning stint in any way. While the Bruins are unlikely to rush his conditioning, it seems evident that they also didn’t want to wait until after the World Junior Championships ended to have access to Pastrnak should they need him. The earliest that the Bruins could have gotten David Pastrnak back would have been on January 1st, and depending on how far in the tournament the Czech Republic got, that time could have stretched until January 5th.
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The option was there for the Bruins, but there really is no loss for the organization to keep David Pastrnak in their own system where they can dictate the minutes he gets as well as the conditions he is skating under. Playing at the international level with a training staff other than their own may have been too much for the Bruins to swallow, and the roster freeze has officially started. David Pastrnak will be eligible to be called back up to the main roster starting on December 28th, giving him the chance to play in three more games with Providence to work on getting his skill and drive up to the NHL standard.
Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @BShareCohen to discuss all things Bruins and sports