Boston Bruins: Predicting other awards David Pastrnak will win this season

Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak has already been an All-Star captain and the MVP; what other accolades will he grab this season?

To be named All-Star captain for the Atlantic Division simply meant that either the Boston Bruins fan base was voting en masse or that other fan bases really wanted David Pastrnak in over the other options.

Either way, it’s a bit of a popularity contest and thus shouldn’t necessarily be too highly regarded as an accolade. However, to then attend that All-Star Game and walk away being named the MVP and quite legitimately – that’s an accolade worthy of a good mention!

While the All-Star three-on-three format obviously suits a player like David Pastrnak’s offense, much more so than, say, Boston Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron – the player himself still needed to perform.

More from Editorials

• Pavel Zacha’s veteran status leading to bigger role in 2023-24
• The Bruins should take a look at these four free agents
• Why the Bruins should wait to name a captain until after the season
• 3 players the Bruins can, 3 players could trade, 3 players they shouldn’t trade
• It’s time to offer Jake DeBrusk a contract extension

Perform he did; grabbing a hat-trick and an assist in the first game, as the Atlantic defeated the Metro Division, before ending up on the losing side against the Pacific in the Final, despite a further 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist).

The MVP of the game may have been chosen by fans on social media, but his 6 points in 2 games meant that David Pastrnak was not quite a shoe-in, but a very strong option as the top performer, even as captain of the losing side.

Whilst his hat-trick in the first game of the All-Star festivities didn’t count towards any league record, there’s every chance David Pastrnak matches the 4 hat-tricks in a season last achieved by Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals) and Drew Stafford (Buffalo Sabres) in the 2010-11 campaign.

Obviously, the Wayne Gretzky record of 10 three point or more games in one season (twice – in the 1981-82 and 1983-84 seasons) can’t reasonably be attained in the modern NHL, but certainly 4 isn’t too much of a stretch given he already has 3 hat-tricks in Boston Bruins games already this year.

Is it reasonable to expect him to seal the Maurice Richard Trophy this season? Maybe, maybe not – him winning it relies on a few things. There’s the one that David Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins have control over – that is to keep scoring at his current pace.

However, he doesn’t have control over the closing pack, which features two very impressive and natural goal scorers in their own right; Alex Ovechkin and Auston Matthews. Both will no doubt be looking to close the gap to him.

Is the Hart Trophy a leap too far?

Maybe; it really depends what value you place on goal scoring as opposed to just point scoring. In terms of goals, obviously David Pastrnak should be mentioned. However, when you look at overall points, we’re talking Connor McDavid, as has become somewhat the norm.

Factor in a bias towards centers (Taylor Hall did buck that trend though) and the sheer fact that he is ably backed up by the likes of Bergeron and Brad Marchand and maybe the Boston Bruins winger really would be an outlier in voting for this one.

Art Ross? Nah; he’s not getting enough assists to prop up his points tally. Despite it seemingly like he’ll top 100 points for the season, that’s still not going to be enough to close down McDavid. Right now, Pastrnak projects at 112 points to McDavid’s 127!

It’s a real tough one. As Boston Bruins fans, it feels like David Pastrnak should be getting way more respect around the league. Granted, there were the votes that he won for Atlantic captain and MVP, but it still feels like nobody really sees just how elite he is and come season end, the accolades still won’t be there.