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Boston Bruins Season Preview 2015-16: David Pastrnak

By Brandon Share-Cohen

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The NHL regular season is finally underway! After months of waiting, hockey fans everywhere can finally enjoy their favorite teams taking to the ice in hopes of making the playoffs and meeting their ultimate goal: hoisting the Stanley Cup high over their heads! The Boston Bruins underwent a very crucial retool during the offseason and will look to return to the postseason just one year after missing it for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Each player will have to pull their weight to succeed, and this series of articles will provide a prediction of how each player will do in the 2015-16 season.

The next player preview is David Pastrnak

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    • David Pastrnak is one of the Boston Bruins best young forwards. At only 19 years old, Pastrnak is already a top-six winger, skating on Boston’s 1B line with David Krejci and Matt Beleskey. In Boston’s first game of the season against the Winnipeg Jets, Pastrnak didn’t look out of place at all, skating with confidence and providing energy for much of the night. Pastrnak and Krejci had instant chemistry, and were the sources of Boston’s only goals in their home opener. David Pastrnak was able to find David Krejci right in front of the Winnipeg net, and Krejci was able to tuck the puck away after a forehand-backhand deke put the Bruins up 1-0. Pastrnak wasn’t credited with an assist on the play as the puck was lightly tipped by a Jets player before Krejci grabbed it. Following that showing of awareness by Pastrnak, it was his time to score. Pastrnak drilled a wrist-shot past Pavelec to bring the Bruins within one goal, but that was all the offense the Bruins would muster before being silenced with a 6-2 loss.

    “That’s what we were focusing for after the second period: get the first goal for 3-2,” Pastrnak said. “We got it and all of a sudden we got the bad goal for 4-2. This game we didn’t get two points and that’s all that matters. We just have to throw it behind our heads and keep focusing for another game.”

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    David Pastrnak is a very good two-way player who excels in the offensive zone as a result of his elite speed and smooth skating strides. If Pastrnak is to ride alongside David Krejci for the duration of the 2015-16 season, the Czech-connection should lead to Pastrnak easily scoring 25 goals in his sophomore season, and adding 33 assists for a grand total of 58 points. Pastrnak hasn’t been given any playing time on the power play in practice thus far, but that could, and probably will change if Boston’s power play doesn’t start to click early on.

    Pastrnak’s projected 58 points should be enough to put him in the top-three of Bruins scoring for the 2015-16 season, but that doesn’t mean he will be invisible in other aspects of the game. As mentioned, Pastrnak is a two-way forward who was drafted because of his defensive ability just as much as his offensive ability. With some added weight and experience under his belt, Pastrnak should find a way to contribute for Boston in many ways this season. Pastrnak wasn’t afraid to throw a hit against Winnipeg to build some energy for his teammates, and that’s encouraging for the Bruins who have always embraced that style of play. It can be argued that Tyler Seguin, and Phil Kessel didn’t last in the Bruins system because they didn’t have the willingness to hit or be hit, but Pastrnak seems to be willing to do whatever it takes to help his team.

    To recap:

    1. Pastrnak will earn a role on the Bruins powerplay

    2. Pastrnak will score 25 goals

    3. Pastrnak will assist on 33 goals

    4. Pastrnak will finish among the Bruins top-three scorers for the 2015-16 season with 58 points

    Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @BShareCohen to discuss all things Bruins and sports

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