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Boston Bruins: David Pastrnak In Providence Is A Short-Term Thing

By Andrew Thompson

Sep 22, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) is congratulated by defenseman Torey Krug (47) and center David Krejci (46) after scoring the winning goal on Washington Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer (not pictured) during the fourth period at TD Garden. The Boston Bruins won 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 22, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) is congratulated by defenseman Torey Krug (47) and center David Krejci (46) after scoring the winning goal on Washington Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer (not pictured) during the fourth period at TD Garden. The Boston Bruins won 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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Boston Bruins Don Sweeney has been pretty spot-on with most of his decisions this season. In spite of this, a lot of people had their eyebrows raised when Sweeney sent forward David Pastrnak back to the AHL Providence Bruins after the Pastrnak and the Czech National Team were eliminated from the World Juniors.

(Team USA (and its three Bruins prospects) finished with the bronze medal, decisively beating Team Sweden to medal this year.)

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Everyone can relax here. Sweeney knows this is a short-term deal. Pastrnak will be in Providence a week to ten days at most. Here are the big reasons why we should Pastrnak back in Boston in the next two weeks.

First off, Don Sweeney was overall pleased with Pasta’s performance in the World Juniors.

“It was good. I think his team was disappointed in the final result of not being able to get by. I think he went over to play a lot of hockey and was able to do that and get his confidence back. He got a goal and three assists in the games he played. They would have liked to have scored a few more goals. He played in situations I think will help him and allow his confidence to get back to where it was even prior to his own injury here.”

The downside was that Pastrnak broke a finger on his right hand. While Claude Julien and the team didn’t believe the injury was serious, it was another of the reasons why Pastrnak will spend the rest of the week in Providence as opposed to Boston.

The next big reason why the Bruins moved Pastrnak to Providence was time. Sweeney didn’t feel that Pastrnak would be ready to make the jump from World Juniors back to the NHL. So, Sweeney is going to let Pastrnak re-acclimatize himself to NHL-style hockey.

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    • “In all honesty,” said Sweeney of Pastrnak. “It would have been unfair, after missing seven weeks of hockey with the set of expectations upon him as a 19-year-old kid, to come in and jump back into our lineup. The intention was to get him back. He played a couple games before he went over to knock off some rust, then go play in a really high-level tournament, which he utilized last year to jump-start his second part of the year.

    “He did impact our lineup. That’s what our hopes are — that he’ll come back and feel more comfortable having handled the puck in an environment over there, even more so than he would have at the AHL level.”

    Finally, the Bruins chose to move Pastrnak to Providence due to the roster. Even with Brad Marchand being suspended, the B’s have got a full 23-man roster. The Bruins are likely going to bring back forward Joonas Kemppainen. The Bruins have been without three centers recently (with the David Krejci and Chris Kelly on injured reserve), and will need a center more than they need a winger at the moment. Kemppainen has been a reliable face-off winner for the Bruins (52.3%), and someone the B’s have used frequently on the penalty kill (averaging 1:38 SH TOI/game).

    Once again, this is a temporary assignment. Pastrnak at the very worst (barring an injury in Providence) should be back with the Bruins by the end of the month. The Bruins just want to make sure he’s 100 percent ready and 100 percent healthy before they bring him back to Boston.

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