Jan 15, 2015;
Boston
, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing
David Pastrnak(88) skates on the ice against the New York Rangers during the second period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Peter Chiarelli couldn’t wait until the end of the Boston Bruins-New York Rangers game to share with us some good news. The Bruins GM chose to make the announcement after the first period. This evening, Chiarelli confirmed that eighteen year old forward David Pastrnak will be staying with the Boston Bruins for the remainder of the 2014-15 season. This will burn a year of Pastrnak’s entry-level contract, but Chiarelli believes it’s a risk worth taking.
Chiarelli on Pastrnak: "He's going to be up here & we're happy to make that decision & we're continue to look at it as a development piece"
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 16, 2015
He’s the right-handed, right-wing shot the Bruins have been looking all season to find. While Chiarelli hasn’t given up on the possibility of a potential trade, he believes part of the problem has been addressed with the integration of Pastrnak to the Bruins forward lines. He stated to the media that the trade issue “It’s not as pressing as it was before.” Chiarelli hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Pastrnak moving back and forth to Providence. (Which means he’ll probably let Pastrnak head down to the AHL All-Star game with fellow P-Bruin Alexander Khokhlachev.)
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This certainly will make things a little easier on
Claude Julien, who kept Pastrnak on the
David Krejciline tonight. Along with
Milan Lucic, this line shows an excellent combination of speed, finesse, and power. Pastrnak’s 172
pound
frame (Chiarelli was pleased to report that the young Czech had gained six
pounds
) has been absorbing some seriously hard hits in his nine games to date, and he’s handled the hits very well. Julien offered his own positive thoughts on the Bruins decision after the 3-0 win.
“decision that we made was pretty unanimous… as far as I was concerned as a coach, I wanted him on my team”- Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien on David Pastrnak
This certainly will make things a little easier on the Black and Gold who are in the middle of a five game win, nine game point streak. With tonight’s win, they leap frog over the floundering Rangers (who have now suffered back to back 3-0 losses), into the top wild card slot in the Western Conference. This puts them just three points behind the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings in the playoff hunt.